One of Frost’s commonest subjects is the choice the poet is faced with two
roads, two ideas, two possibilities of action. “The Road Not Taken” deals
with the choice between two roads, and with the results of the choice which the
poet makes. It raises the evident question of whether it is better to choose a
road in which many travel, or to choose the road less traveled and explore it
yourself. In “The Road Not Taken,” the speakers’ tone and setting help
illustrate the struggle a person goes through in their lives to pick the right
road to travel. It is possible to read this poem as a statement of some
self-pity on the poet’s part, a feeling, perhaps, that he has been cheated and
misunderstood because he took an unpopular path. To support this tone, one might
point to the last stanza: The speaker will some day, sighing, tell others that
he took the unknown road when faced with a choice. The reading, however, misses
much of the significance of the second and third stanzas. At the end of the
second, the speaker states that there was really not much difference in the two
roads; neither had really been worn by traffic, though one had been given more
wear than the other. It becomes obvious that the speaker’s tone begins to
change. It becomes a little more confident, not much, but definitely less
confused and scared than he was earlier. The first glimpse of this change in
tone is in the eighth verse where he says, “because is [the second road] was
grassy and wanted wear.” It also shows that the speaker may not want to be
like everybody else, a follower, but instead, chose a different road and be
himself, a leader. This verse also says that the road wanted wear, like he was
drawn to the path, not just out of his own desire to be different, but maybe out
of some pity. That pity being that the road is traveled less not because it is
not appealing, but that people are too afraid to be different. Verse 12 is
interesting when the speaker says that, “In leaves no step had trodden
black,” which the reader could interpret meaning that few people who did
choose to take the road less traveled did not come across any difficulties or
obstacles. He then goes on to say that, “Oh, I kept the first for another
day,” as to say that it took him a long time to make his decision. Actually,
it may have been months or even years before the speaker chose a road. He knew
that the decision he made would determine the outcome of his life, and that he
would have to be devoted to the road he chose. Once he made this decision, he
would probably never be able to turn back. In the third stanza, he says that
both roads lay in leaves that no one had trampled down. In other words, both
roads were in about the same condition; it is what the man does with his choice
that makes the difference. The tone of the last stanza, then, is simply
matter-of-fact rather than self-pitying. One cannot know, when he makes a
choice, what the results of his decision will be. Rather than being sorry that
he took the untravelled road, the poet seems to be saying that he would probably
do the same thing again. The speakers tone seemed to have changed with
confidence. This confidence, shown in verse eighteen, when the speaker repeats
the first verse, except he leaves out the word yellow. Purposely leaving out the
word yellow is an example of imagery. In the first stanza, yellow meant the
color of the trees and foliage, and in the third stanza, they are no longer
yellow. Also in the third stanza he says, “I shall be telling this with a sigh
somewhere ages and ages hence.” This isn’t stated in a negative way, just as
a way to portray the fact that he chose the right road. The sigh was to show
that the road had not been easy. The setting in “The Road Not Taken,” is
very important. In the first verse of the first stanza, Frost says, “Two roads
diverged in a yellow wood,” which is seemingly a very important part of the
poem. This line is a metaphor in which Frost uses woods to represent life. Using
this as an image helps to have a better understanding of the complexity of the
problem that the speaker is facing. If someone was standing at the edge of some
woods you would not be able to clearly see what was ahead of you, because it
would be obstructed by trees and branches. Life is like those woods because no
one can clearly see or predict what will happen in the future, only hope to
choose a path that will lead you to good fortune and happiness. Another
interesting part of the first verse is how he describes the woods. It describes
the uncertainty of the speaker, and implies that he may be scared to even choose
a path. Evidently he does not want to decide upon the wrong road and mess up his
life. The reader can determine that as he stands before these two roads he is
very confused and even frightened as in which road to pick. All he can do is
look as far down each road as possible, and hope that he decides upon the right
one. This is exactly what he does when he looks down the first road, at the end
of the first stanza. The second stanza starts off with the speaker talking about
the other path, and how it looked just as hard, just as long, and just as fair
on this path as he did the first. Meaning that he took exactly every step
analyzing this road as he did the other. The speaker ends the poem by stating
that he chose the untravelled road, and that this choice has had a great
significance in his life. After reading “The Road Not Taken,” the reader can
determine two literary elements, tone and setting. This poem supplies the reader
with a situation that each person has to face at least one situation in their
lives. That situation being that everyone has to struggle to try and put their
life on the right road. The road which leads them to what they believe to be
happiness. One of Frost’s commonest subjects is the choice the poet is faced
with two roads, two ideas, two possibilities of action. “The Road Not Taken”
deals with the choice between two roads, and with the results of the choice
which the poet makes. It raises the evident question of whether it is better to
choose a road in which many travel, or to choose the road less traveled and
explore it yourself. In “The Road Not Taken,” the speakers’ tone and
setting help illustrate the struggle a person goes through in their lives to
pick the right road to travel. It is possible to read this poem as a statement
of some self-pity on the poet’s part, a feeling, perhaps, that he has been
cheated and misunderstood because he took an unpopular path. To support this
tone, one might point to the last stanza: The speaker will some day, sighing,
tell others that he took the unknown road when faced with a choice. The reading,
however, misses much of the significance of the second and third stanzas. At the
end of the second, the speaker states that there was really not much difference
in the two roads; neither had really been worn by traffic, though one had been
given more wear than the other. It becomes obvious that the speaker’s tone
begins to change. It becomes a little more confident, not much, but definitely
less confused and scared than he was earlier. The first glimpse of this change
in tone is in the eighth verse where he says, “because is [the second road]
was grassy and wanted wear.” It also shows that the speaker may not want to be
like everybody else, a follower, but instead, chose a different road and be
himself, a leader. This verse also says that the road wanted wear, like he was
drawn to the path, not just out of his own desire to be different, but maybe out
of some pity. That pity being that the road is traveled less not because it is
not appealing, but that people are too afraid to be different. Verse 12 is
interesting when the speaker says that, “In leaves no step had trodden
black,” which the reader could interpret meaning that few people who did
choose to take the road less traveled did not come across any difficulties or
obstacles. He then goes on to say that, “Oh, I kept the first for another
day,” as to say that it took him a long time to make his decision. Actually,
it may have been months or even years before the speaker chose a road. He knew
that the decision he made would determine the outcome of his life, and that he
would have to be devoted to the road he chose. Once he made this decision, he
would probably never be able to turn back. In the third stanza, he says that
both roads lay in leaves that no one had trampled down. In other words, both
roads were in about the same condition; it is what the man does with his choice
that makes the difference. The tone of the last stanza, then, is simply
matter-of-fact rather than self-pitying. One cannot know, when he makes a
choice, what the results of his decision will be. Rather than being sorry that
he took the untravelled road, the poet seems to be saying that he would probably
do the same thing again. The speakers tone seemed to have changed with
confidence. This confidence, shown in verse eighteen, when the speaker repeats
the first verse, except he leaves out the word yellow. Purposely leaving out the
word yellow is an example of imagery. In the first stanza, yellow meant the
color of the trees and foliage, and in the third stanza, they are no longer
yellow. Also in the third stanza he says, “I shall be telling this with a sigh
somewhere ages and ages hence.” This isn’t stated in a negative way, just as
a way to portray the fact that he chose the right road. The sigh was to show
that the road had not been easy. The setting in “The Road Not Taken,” is
very important. In the first verse of the first stanza, Frost says, “Two roads
diverged in a yellow wood,” which is seemingly a very important part of the
poem. This line is a metaphor in which Frost uses woods to represent life. Using
this as an image helps to have a better understanding of the complexity of the
problem that the speaker is facing. If someone was standing at the edge of some
woods you would not be able to clearly see what was ahead of you, because it
would be obstructed by trees and branches. Life is like those woods because no
one can clearly see or predict what will happen in the future, only hope to
choose a path that will lead you to good fortune and happiness. Another
interesting part of the first verse is how he describes the woods. It describes
the uncertainty of the speaker, and implies that he may be scared to even choose
a path. Evidently he does not want to decide upon the wrong road and mess up his
life. The reader can determine that as he stands before these two roads he is
very confused and even frightened as in which road to pick. All he can do is
look as far down each road as possible, and hope that he decides upon the right
one. This is exactly what he does when he looks down the first road, at the end
of the first stanza. The second stanza starts off with the speaker talking about
the other path, and how it looked just as hard, just as long, and just as fair
on this path as he did the first. Meaning that he took exactly every step
analyzing this road as he did the other. The speaker ends the poem by stating
that he chose the untravelled road, and that this choice has had a great
significance in his life. After reading “The Road Not Taken,” the reader can
determine two literary elements, tone and setting. This poem supplies the reader
with a situation that each person has to face at least one situation in their
lives. That situation being that everyone has to struggle to try and put their
life on the right road. The road which leads them to what they believe to be
happiness.