Analysis of “the Road Not Taken”

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Third stanza opens with “And both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black” (lines 11-12). After all consideration, the traveler still must make a decision and he comes to the conclusion that both paths are equal. Armed with this knowledge he chooses a path. After a day’s travel, he realizes the likelihood of coming back to the other path is not realistic “knowing how way leads on to way” (line 14). This illustrates how one decision can open one door and close another setting off a chain reaction of events with good and/or bad consequences.

The final stanza of the poem projects the traveler’s outcome based on the decision made back at the divergence. Frost leaves the traveler’s ultimate success or failure up to the reader to interpret. “I shall be telling this with a sigh” (line 16), leads the stanza and initially appears regretful. However, sigh, is also defined as: to take a deep audible breath (as in weariness or relief) (Sigh, 2017). How the reader interprets the first line of the stanza can shape the entire poem positively or negatively. It is important that the traveler, be it positive or negative, has accepted the consequences of his decision by stating: “I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference” (lines 19-20).

Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” provided a detailed look into the overall process of decision-making. Frost uses the setting to symbolically represent how one can be forced to make a decision. He progressively walks the reader through the process in each stanza by allowing the traveler to recognize a decision must be made, consider the choices, make the decision, and accept the outcome of the decision whether positive or negative. Finally, in keeping with the theme of the poem, he allows the reader to interpret and choose the final outcome of the traveler.

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References

Liberty University. (n.d.). Lesson 21: Analysis and evaluation of lyrical poems [PowerPoint slides, Audio cast].

Retrieved from https://learn.liberty.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-16282672-dt-content-rid-142109351_1/courses/ENGL102_C09_201720/Master/Course%20Content/Module/Week%205%20--%20Poetry%20Essay/Reading%20%26%20Study/Presentation_%20Lesson%2021/Lesson21/index.html

Frost, R. (2016) The road not taken. In X. J. Kennedy & D. Gioia (Eds.), Literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing (p. 756). Boston, MA: Pearson. (Original work published in 1948)

Sigh. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2017, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sigh

Diverge. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2017, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diverge