"The Road Not Taken." Flashcards
Context
Frost wrote this poem for his friend who was trying to decide whether to join the military.
Key themes
thought, nature, decision
Tone
ambiguous tone (vague)
The poem is mainly about…
the unimportance of human decision
“Two roads diverged”
metaphor for two choices
“The Road Not Taken”
the road he didn’t take - regretful
or…road he took is the less obvious choice
“yellow wood”
cowerdness/indecison
“Sorry”
apologetic tone highlights the regret of the speaker but due to the ambigous tone this is never confirmed.
“one traveller, long I stood”
only you can decide no one can make these decisions for you, others can influence decisions but it is ultimately the individual choice. ‘Long I stood’ highlights how the decision process is slow
“as far as I could”
people try to see what the paths could lead to but no one knows what will lay ahead only taking that specific ‘road’
“bent in the undergrowth”
The metaphor highlights how the paths will contain challenges. No path is easy. The semi-colon highlights how the patch is still ongoing emphasising the fact that humans can’t predict the outcomes of decisions making them insignificant.
“worn them really about the same”
“equally lay”
Conclusion! The two paths were very similar, doesn’t matter what path the speaker chooses.
“I kept the first for another day!”
“I doubted”
optimistic that they can travel down the other road but can’t. The end-stop line (exclamative) highlights how fickle humanity is.
“I doubted” highlights reluctance which juxtaposes the optimistic tone earlier
“I shall be telling this with a sigh”
‘sigh’ could be positive or negative (ambiguous) relief or regret. As the reader it is not clear, that this unclarity could highlight the insignificance of decision making, it is so insignificant that it isn’t indicated
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -“
Repetition followed by a hyphen highlights reflection. Regret or hesitation
