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Literary Analysis Of Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken

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Brian Hornsby Professor Short ENG 102 14 December 2017 Analysis of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is a famous poem that many people are familiar with. In the poem the speaker arrives at a fork in the road where both paths are strewn with leaves. The speaker stands there for a time to contemplate which direction to take, and finally decides to take the plunge on the one less traveled. He comforts himself with his decision by telling himself that he can take the other road another day even though he knows this is unlikely to happen. The poem concludes with the speaker’s affirmation in his choice by acknowledging the importance of his decision. Frost uses the image of two roads diverging in a yellow wood to symbolize the choices that one is confronted with in life and the consequences of making decisions. The poem’s structure consists of four stanzas containing five lines. Each line contains four stressed syllables making the poem iambic tetrameter. The rhyming scheme is ABAAB throughout the poem until the final stanza where it is broken on the last line with the final word “difference”. This change in convention makes the final line stand out and gives greater impact to the ending. The first stanza conveys a mood of change and introduces the idea of a life altering decision, which is the basis for the poem. The scene is set with the opening words, "Two roads diverged" (line 1). The speaker is standing at a junction in the road pondering two choices. The roads in the poem are merged where the speaker is standing but lead in two different directions signifying two different paths in life. One begins to see the metaphorical meaning as early as the first line with the reference to "yellow wood" (line 1). This suggests that the setting happens during fall which is the season of change. The second line, "sorry I could not have traveled both" (line 2) expresses the curiosity to explore several possibilities in life. It also forms a sense of regret at not knowing what could lie ahead on the unchosen road and the speaker's limitation to one lifetime. When the speaker says, "And be one traveler" (line 3), it is obvious that it is not possible to travel down both paths. He

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