The traveler comes to a fork in a road through a “yellow wood” and wishes he could somehow manage to “travel both” routes he rejects that aspiration as impractical, however, at least for the day at hand.

The first significant thing about “The Road Not Taken” is its title, which presumably refers to an unexercised option, something about which the speakerĬan only speculate. Without that kind of determination, Christopher Columbus wouldn't have 'discovered' America, and Neil Armstrong wouldn't have walked on the moon. Just think about what has happened when men and women have boldly gone where no men and women have gone before. At this point in the poem, Frost tries to encourage readers to overcome the fear of the unknown: someone has to be the first person to try a new thing. The only difference between the two roads is that the one the narrator chooses in the second stanza is 'grassy and wanted wear' in other words, it doesn't look like anyone's taken it before or in a long time. The narrator eventually decides to take the other road because it really doesn't matter whichever path he chooses, he has no way of knowing where he's going to end up. Think of the expression, 'down the road', that we often use to describe something that might happen months or even years from now, and you'll see how Frost is making the connection between life and traveling.įrost captures the uncertainty about making decisions and our natural desire to know what will happen as a result of the decisions we make in the first stanza of the poem: 'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth' Here, Frost uses the bend in the road as a metaphor for what the narrator wishes he could see but ultimately can't make out in the undergrowth. The narrator's choice about which road to take represents the different decisions we sometimes have to make and how those decisions will affect the future. The two roads diverged in a yellow wood symbolize a person's life. It's actually a poem about the journey of life. The Poem's Theme 'The Road Not Taken' is more than a poem about someone trying to decide which road he's going to take on a stroll through the woods. Part of him regrets his decision, but he also realizes that the things he's seen and the places he's gone because of the direction he chose has made him who he is. He thinks wistfully about that road, the road not taken, and where he might have wound up if he'd gone that way instead. He thinks maybe he might come back another day and try out the other path but has a feeling that the road he's chosen will lead him to new places and discoveries, and he probably won't be back. He looks down one road as far as he can see, and after thinking for another minute, decides to take the other one because it looks like nobody's been that way yet, and he's curious about where it leads. The poem describes someone standing at a fork, or turning point, in a road in the woods, trying to decide which path he's going to take. The final lines in particular, 'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference', are often quoted and referred to as inspirational words that challenge us to overcome obstacles in life. 'The Road Not Taken', first published in 1916, is perhapsįrost's most famous poem.

Well, the famous American poet, Robert Frost, once wrote a poem that describes this feeling exactly.

We've all been faced with challenging decisions in our lives, and sometimes the difficulty of making those decisions arises from the fear of not knowing if what we choose is right, or what will happen as a result of our choice. You may have considered the different paths of study or activity each choice would lead you down. Poem Summary Have you ever found yourself caught between a rock and a hard place, trying to make a difficult decision? Maybe you've had to choose between two equally desirable things, like following a career path to become an astronaut or a doctor. This lesson will cover a brief summary of the poem, analyze its major theme, and test your knowledge with a quick quiz. 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost is a well-known poem about the journey of life.

Frost the road not taken pdf