The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost
In the poem – ‘The Road Not Taken’, the road symbolizes our life. The poet says that
the path that we don’t choose in our life is the road not taken. He describes his feelings
about the choice that he had left in the past. The path which we have chosen, decides
our future, our destination. The important message that the poet wants to give is that the
choice that we make has an impact on our future and if we make a wrong choice, we
regret it but cannot go back on it. So, we must be wise while making choices.
The Road Not Taken Poem Explanation
Stanza 1
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;
diverged: separated and took a different direction

yellow wood: a forest with decomposing leaves
undergrowth: dense growth of plants and bushes means the forest
Once the poet was walking down a road and then there was a diversion, there were two
different paths and he had to choose one out of them. The poet says that as he was one
person, he could travel on one road only. He had to choose one out of these two roads.
Yellow wood means a forest with leaves which are wearing out and they have turned
yellow in colour – the season of autumn. It represents a world which is full of people,
where people have been living for many years. They represent people who are older than
the poet.
The poet kept standing there and looked at the path very carefully as far as he could see
it. Before taking the path, he wanted to know how it was. Was it suitable for him or no.
He was able to see the path till from where it curved after which it was covered with trees
and was hidden. It happens in our life also when we have choices, we have alternatives,
but we have to choose only one out of them, we take time to think about the pros and
cons, whether it is suitable for us or not and only then, we take a decision on what path
we should choose.
Stanza 2
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.
fair: As good as the other one,

claim: Better option
grassy: unused
wanted wear: had not been used
The poet kept on looking at one path for a long time to check if it is the right path for him
or not and then he decided and started walking on another path because he felt that both
paths were equally good. He says just as fair, so, he felt that both paths were equally good
and started walking on one of them. He adds that maybe he felt that the path was better
for him so he chooses it as it had grass on it which means that it was unused. Not many
people had walked on this path earlier that is why this path was grassy. ‘And wanted
wear’ means that it was not walked over by many people. After he walked on the path for
some distance, he realized that both the paths had been worn out the same way. Both the
paths were similar and worn out. Even in our life, we take any path or option but all of
them have the same benefits, disadvantages, problems, challenges and we must face them.
We think that we are choosing a better option, but it is not that way.
Stanza 3
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.
trodden - walked over.

The poet says that both the paths were similar that morning. Both had leaves on them and
no one had stepped on them as they were still green in colour. He decided that that day
he would take one path and keep the other path for another day, although he knew that
one way leads on to another way. He knew that he could not go back on the choice that
he had made. Similarly, even in our life once we choose an option, we must keep on
moving ahead with that option and we never get a chance to come back and take the other
option that we had left earlier.
Stanza 4
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.
sigh: deep breath

hence: here, in the future
He says that in the future, he will take a deep breath and say that once upon a time, he
had reached such a point in life that there were two options for him and he travelled on
that road which had been travelled upon by lesser number of people. That decision of his
decided his future. Similarly, in future, when you grow up, then you will say that once
upon a time, when you were young, you had two options. The choice that you made, made
you what you became of it. This is a very strong message for all the students – which you
should be wise and be careful while making choices out of the options that you have in
your life because your future depends on the choice that you make today.
The Road Not Taken Literary Devices
1. Rhyme Scheme: abaab
2. Symbolism: two roads that represent two or more choices in our life
3. Anaphora: ‘and’ repeated at the beginning of lines 2, 3 and 4
4. Alliteration: Wanted Wear ‘w’ sound is repeating
1. ‘first for’ – ‘f’ sound is repeating
2. ‘though, that’- ‘th’ sound is repeating
5. Repetition: ‘Ages’ is repeated. ‘Two roads diverged in a wood’- this sentence is
repeated in stanzas 1 and 4.
Brief Summary
The poet says that once, he was walking down the road and reached a fork. He could walk
over one of the paths only. He took time to choose the right path. He inspected them to
decide which was a better option and then chose the one which seemed less walked over.
He kept the other one for some other day although he knew that he would never get the
chance to walk over it. He would go further on the chosen path and not get a chance to
go back on it. As he walked on the chosen path, he realized that both the paths were
similar. He felt that his future depended on the choice that he made.
Summary:
The poet is talking about how he was walking down a road, and there were two
different roads. He had to choose one of them. The poet says that as he was a single
person, he could not travel on both roads. Yellow wood means a forest with leaves that
are wearing out, and they have turned pale and yellow, and it is the season of autumn. It
represents a world which is full of older people. The poet stood there for a long time and
looked at the path very carefully. Before taking the path, he wanted to know how it
was. He was able to see the road till from where it curved after which it was covered with
trees and was not to be seen. It happens in our life also when we have choices, and we
have to choose only one out of them, we take time to think about the pros and cons,
whether it is suitable for us or not and only then, we decide on what path we should
choose.
The poet looked at the other path and decided to go in that way. He says the path he
chooses had grass on it which means that it was rarely used. Many people had not
walked on this path earlier; that is why this path was of grass. After he walked on the path
for some distance, he felt that the path had been worn out the same way the before one
and were similar. Even in our life, we take one path or choice, but all of them have
the advantages and disadvantages to face.
The poet says that both the paths were similar that morning. Both the paths had leaves
and grass on them, and no one had stepped on them as they were still green in colour;
otherwise, they would have been crushed by the foot. He thought he would take the
other path for another day, although he knew that one way leads to another. He knew that
he could not go back on the alternate he had taken. In the same way, in our lives, if we
choose an option, we must keep on moving ahead with that option as we never get a
chance to come back and take the other option that we had left earlier.
He says that in the future, with a deep breath he will say that long ago, he had reached a
point in life that there were two options for him and he travelled on the road which had
been travelled upon by few people and that decision made so much of difference. In the
same way, when you are older, you will say that way back, when you were young, you
had two options. The choice that you made, made you. This is a powerful message for
all the students - that you should be wise and be careful while making, choosing, correct
alternative out of the options that you have in your life because your future depends on
the choice that you make today.

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The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost

diverged: separated and took a different direction

fair: As good as the other one,

trodden - walked over.

sigh: deep breath

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