The Road Not Taken Poem and Explanation
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
By ROBERT FROST
The poet was walking down the road, when he found a diversion where two roads diverged in different directions. The poet feels sorry as he can not travel on both the roads. He has to make one decision and choose a single path. At the junction, the poet stood for a long time and tried to look at the roads as far as he could. He wanted to see the roads and wanted to know about both paths. But, he could not see anything beyond the diversion as the roads were curved and covered with the trees. In the stanza, the yellow wood refers to the forest with leaves, which were shed on the road and had turned yellow. This indicates that it was autumn season. Through this stanza, the poet wants to convey that in everyone’s life there comes a time when we have to make choices. We have alternatives, but we have to choose only one. At that time, we see the pros and cons of the situation and take the time to decide which path to take. Similarly, the poet is also taking time before making any decision.
After taking a long time, the poet decided to take the other road. He thought that both the roads were equally good. He started walking on the road which has grass on it and feels that it was a better road for him. The grassy road means that the road was not used and the wanted wear means that only a few people have walked through it. After walking some distance on the road, the poet feels that both the paths were almost the same. There was hardly any difference between them. Through this the poet conveys that, in our life whatever decision we take or choices we make, each choice has some advantages and some disadvantages. Problems are everywhere, so we must be ready to face them.
The poet says that both the paths seemed to be similar that morning. Leaves were shed on both the roads, and they were still green. It means that no one had walked on the roads. He decided to take one path that day and the other path on another day. However, he knows that one way leads to another way. He could not go back and take the other path once he moved ahead with one. Similarly, in our life, when we make one decision, we can’t go back. We have to move ahead with the same choice and face the problems which come our way.
The poet says that in the future, he will take a deep breath and say that once upon a time he reached a point in life where he had to make one choice. There were two options for him, and he had to opt for one. At that time, he decided to take that road which was less travelled by people. It means that he took that decision which rare people take. And that decision has changed his entire life. The poet sent a powerful message that people should decide wisely in their life because the decision they take will have an impact on the rest of their life.
7 сен 2024
