Robert Frost\'s Poem, \"The Road

Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken" examines the variety of possibilities we face in life by comparing them to choosing a path on which to walk in the forest. Where to go and what to do are not always clearly laid out plans for us and we must make choices based upon very little information. Through symbolism, Frost relates choosing one path over another to the choices we must face in life every single day. Making decisions is sometimes very difficult and yet we must make them because standing still is not an option. The poem emphasizes this as well as the confidence that emerges with experience.

The theme of making choices finds its focus on how we are limited with experience and knowledge. The lack of information regarding where each path leads emphasizes how we must sometimes make similar choices in life with limited information. Paths, like options, might look the same but we must realize that they will ultimately go in different directions. The poet realizes that it is impossible to be " travel both/and be one traveler" (Frost 2-3), facing the fact that he must choose path one over the other. Every decision we encounter meets us with similar fate. The poet then does what we all try to do, which is make an informed decision by observing the situation around him and attempting to see down each path to see where they lead. He looks "down one as far as I could/to where it bent in the undergrowth" (4-5) because it would be so much easier to decide if he knew where it went but he cannot see so he hesitates. This hesitation represents how we can allow decisions to paralyze us but at the same time, this hesitation is normal when we do not know exactly what to do. The poet finally becomes aware that he will never figure out which path to take, so he begins to decide by how each path looks to him. They both have trees of "yellow wood" (1) and, for all intents and purposes, the paths are "really about the same" (10). In addition, each path "Equally lay/in leaves no step had trodden black" (11-2). The poet uses these lines to reinforce how difficult some decisions are regardless of how well we observe circumstances. In the end, the poet chooses the path by how it looks.

The literal place in which the poet is standing is a forest and all he must do is go down a path. The poet utilizes symbolism in this poem, with each path representing a direction, or way, of life. Here we see that a road is rarely ever just a road because it leads to other roads and choices and so on until these choices become the way of our lives. Choices seen as roads that appear to be the same are more clear because they allow us to understand that many choices in life are not black and white but gray. Regardless of that, we still must decide which way to go. The literal forest with its paths represents life and the seemingly unimportant choices we make everyday.

The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAAB and it is made up of four stanzas with five lines in each stanza. Every line of the poem has nine syllables and the scansion of the poem is four feet per line. Frost employs the technique of sound in "The Road Not Taken." Alliteration appears with the words yellow, travel, and traveler and grassy and passing. Assonance appears with many of the rhymes, including wood, could, stood, lay, day, way, sigh, and by. Frost uses these literary techniques to convey a difficult issue through the delicacy of poetry.

The poem is intended as advice because once we make a choice we can never go back and we are doing well to never look back in regret but instead remain confident. In addition, we should never be inclined to take the easy road just because it looks easy. The poet admits that he took the path that was "grassy and wanted wear" (8), indicating that the less traveled path might hold more excitement and intrigue. Our paths make us who we are and the poet believes he made the best choice. The last stanza might be ambiguous, but it is not pessimistic.