The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost (1874 1963)

Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco,
California. When Frost was two years old, his mother moved
to Lawrence, Massachusetts because his father was cruel to the family. She
stayed there until her second baby was born, Jeannie, Robert's sister. Then
they went back to San Francisco on a train. A few years later, Robert's father
died, so they took the body to Lawrence to be buried in the family cemetery
By the time he was 11, Robert Frost had crossed the U.S. three times.
After this rough beginning, Robert Frost went on to become a great poet.
He married Elinor White and had two children. Robert Frost never worked
at a real job except being a poet, but he published many poems in his lifetime.
Some of them are: The Road not Taken, The Raft of Flowers, The Pasture,
and others. Robert also won four Pulitzer awards and read The Gift Outright
at the inauguration of John. F. Kennedy. He died on January 29, 1963 ofa
heart attack. He was 88 years old.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorryI could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one asfar as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as 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
n leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on
way, to
I doubted ifI should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, andlL
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Stanza one: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Vocabulary:
diverged: split; parted; became two wood: forest
undergrowth: bushes and long grass
Paraphrase:
The poet writes about one day when he was walking in the forest. It is autumn
and the trees are yellow. In the forest are two paths. Both paths seem interesting
and the poet wishes he could travel both of them. But he must choose which
path to take. He examines the path as best he can, but his vision is limited
because the path bends and is covered up with bushes and long grass.
Literary terms:
Repetition:
Lines 2-3-4 "And sorry I could not travel both
And looked down one as far asI could"
*
The word And' is repeated in three times.
Rhyme Scheme: abaab
Then took the other, as just as fair,
Stanza two:
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 sane,
Vocabulary:
fair: good
worn: damaged because of continuous use
Paraphrase:
take the other path, which is more attractive choice
The poet decides to a
because no one lately. Continuous use and too much passing have
has taken it
since
made the two paths equally damaged. The poet seems to feel ambivalent,
he realizes that the two paths are really the same.
Literary terms
Alliteration:
Line 3 Because it was grassy and wanted wear;"
* The consonant sound w is repeated in 'wanted' and 'wear.
Rhyme Scheme: cdccd
And both that morning equally lay

Stanza three:
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 ifI should ever come back.

Vocabulary:
trodden: walked upon; stepped on
Paraphrase:
how very much alike the two paths are. Both
The poet continues to tell us
has been there

paths have been covered by the falling leaves of autumn. No one
travels the
before the poet that morning. The poet makes his decision and
second path. persuade himself that he can come back some other
He tries to
time and walk the other path. However, the poet has doubts about being
able
to come back, and admits that sucha hope is unrealistic.

71
Literary terms
Repetition:
Line 4 "Yet knowing how way leads on to way,"
The word 'way' is repeated twice.
Rhyme Scheme: efe ef

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Stanzafour:
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.
Vocabulary:
sad
sigh: the sound you make when you remember something nice or
ages hence: a long time from now; after a long time
Paraphrase:
The poet imagines himself in the future, discussing his life. He will claim
that the paths were different from each other and that he courageously did
not choose the conventional route. He chose the road which not many
people had traveled by.
Literary terms
|Repetition:
Line 2 "Somewhere ages and ages hence:"
*Theword 'ages' is repeated twice.

Rhyme Scheme: ghggh
Questions:
O Think about what you did before you got to school this morning. How
many decisions did you have to make? What were they?
What does 'yellow wood' mean (stanza 1 line 1)? How does it connect with
stanza 3 line 2?
C a n you tell by reading the poem again, why the poet chose to take the road
he did? Why or why not?

What do you think the poet meant in the last line of the poem "that has
made all the difference."?
Why is 'the road' a metaphor? What do you think it means?

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The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost (1874 1963)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

I doubted ifI should ever come back.

Stanza one: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

Though as for that the passing there

Rhyme Scheme: cdccd

And both that morning equally lay

I doubted ifI should ever come back.

has been there

to come back, and admits that sucha hope is unrealistic.

The word 'way' is repeated twice.

Rhyme Scheme: efe ef

ages hence: a long time from now; after a long time

*Theword 'ages' is repeated twice.

he did? Why or why not?

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