The Road Not Taken- An Analysis

The Road Not Taken

-          Robert Frost

                Robert Frost is one of the important American poets. He is highly regarded for his realistic depiction of rural life. “The Road Not Taken” is a simple poem which has a philosophical insight about making choices in life.

In this poem, the poet shares an incident that happened in his life. Once the poet goes into the woods and stands in front of the two divergent road. This poem itself is a metaphor. It is about the journey of life. Similar situation occurs in everyone’s life. He is sorry that he could not travel in both the roads. In this poem, the poet says that one road is travelled by many and it is very clean whereas the other one is grassy. Only few people might have used it. If one road is chosen, there is no choice for a return. The poet stands for a long time wondering which way to choose. After considering different prospects, the poet chooses the road that is less travelled. He reserves the other road for another day.

Though this poem seems to be very simple, it conveys a deeper message to the human beings. Everyone experiences similar dilemma different stages of life. Whatever decision is taken at a crucial time, the individual becomes responsible for it. Moreover, this poem showcases the adventurous attitude of the poet. Because, he does not take the road which is very clean and travelled by many. Whereas, he takes risk by choosing the road that is less travelled.

This poem hints at the personal experiences of the poet also. Because, at the beginning of his career, Frost involved himself in different vocation. Later, he tried his hand in writing and became very successful. The poem ends with a sigh of relief. The poet acknowledges that his decision was right.

“I took the one less travelled by,

 And that has made all the difference”.

Though many critics accept that this poem has an autobiographical touch, some claim that he wrote this poem to make fun of a friend who used to procrastinate at the crossroads. “The Road Not Taken” consists of four stanzas of five lines. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB.