While there have been a number of iconic poems throughout the centuries, one that continues to receive recognition and mention is “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. In this poem, Frost examines the consequences that result from each choice we make in life. There is a sense of ambivalence that comes with making a decision, especially if both available options appear sound. Consequently, within his poem, Frost examines the relationship between progress and the sacrifice of possibilities. He also provides insight into an individual’s thoughts both prior to and following the decision making process. In this particular poem, Frost is discussing a literal decision between two paths in the woods. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the …show more content…
Additionally, it is also applicable and relatable to every individual of any age, gender, sex, race, etc. The poem is about the ability of an individual to make a decision in life and accept the consequences, whether positive or negative, that come with that decision. Therefore, this universality of the poem is a prime reason why it has continued to amass such support and reflection to this day. The poem is unique because of the vast range of circumstances and situations to which it can be applied. Therefore, it is able to cross all boundaries and societal norms in order to impact and reference the life of every individual who reads it and contemplates the meaning behind it. While Frost’s poem is highly relatable to every individual that reads it, it is also important because of the mind frame and life of Frost when he composed it. While many individuals believe that the poem offers a profound message on life and the choices that we make, the reality is that the poem is meant to be taken much more openly. It is a reflection of all the decisions we make without placing too much meaning into them. In 1914, Britain had declared war on Germany forcing Frost to flee to his home of England. At this time Robert Frost had formed a strong bond with fellow writer Edward Thomas. Prior to the war, the two companions had plans to move to America together. However Thomas, an indecisive man, was unable to choose between staying or
I’m very connected to this poem because I’ve had times in life where I have had to choose between two paths to take. I ended up not taking either path instead creating my own path. During high school I always thought I’d be like every other cliché American teenager and move off to college and experience life away from home. However, as I was making this decision my father was diagnosed with three types of cancer which redirected my path. I currently live at home and attend a smaller campus rather than a large university because it allowed me to be involved with my father during this time in his life. The path I chose was not an easy decision, but sometimes we have to make decisions and create new paths that will not only affect us but others that we are connected to. Whether it’s a choice in life or not life happens.
When thinking of literature a person can never leave out poetry. Poetry is defined as “writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm”. And even though there are many people who dislike poetry, maybe because they have a hard time comprehending what the author is saying, this form of writing is very important to the writing world and without it we would probably view writing very differently. Poetry allows our brains to think more creatively. This is because the author never says exactly what they mean in a poem, which makes the reader think more deeply and create their own interpretation of the poem. Poem’s
So I decided to write an explication essay on the poem “The Road Not Taken”. The poem is by Robert Frost and it tells the story about a man who is thinking about something he had done before. Even though what he did wasn’t looked as being good or bad, it was indicated the decision he made had an outcome that caused a shift in his life.
Robert Frost was born March 26, 1874 at San Francisco, California and died January 29, 1963 at Boston, Massachusetts. Frost was an educator and poet. He is widely known for his poetry; some of Frost’s famous work includes The Road Not Taken, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, Mending Wall, and Out, Out─. Out, Out─ tells a story of a young boy cutting wood to help provide for his family. He then acquires an injury on his hand by the saw. The boy ends up dying due to the severity of his wound. His family returns to their duties. This poem uses many elements to emphasize death. Robert Frost uses the poetic elements of imagery, figures of speech, and symbolism to illustrate the theme of death in the poem Out, Out─.
The existence of poetry as an artform predates literacy itself. Over the course of history, poetry grew from a verbal form of art, existing mainly in religious hymns, to becoming the universal “language of the heart”. The work of William Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe, some of the most notable poets of history, has resonated with generations of Americans. Although they lived in a Pre-industrial world, their work remains powerful because the themes expressed in their artwork can still be applied to modern society. On the contrary, protruding among this group of ancient poets is Robert Frost, whose modern work remains just as powerful, shaping generations through his questions of existence, and depiction of loneliness in an indifferent universe. One of Frost's most celebrated poems: The Road Not Taken, is influential not only in the literary world, but also within American culture. The poems subsequent ripple through American life is analyzed by David Orr In his essay The Most Misread Poem in America. Here, Orr argues that the misread of The Road Not Taken magnifies the underlying issues in society’s understanding of both Frost and poetry as a whole.
The poem’s author, Robert Frost, focuses on the theme and the mood by representing the choices and decisions that have to be made.
In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” he said, “Two roads diverged in a wood and I—I took the one less traveled by, and it has made all the difference.” Every day, each individual has the power to make choices. He can choose the popular path or “the one less traveled by.” The most common and relatable choice a person has is what he chooses to eat. Many, if not most, Americans follow the favored “road” of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, when they consume food (Frost). But an individual must stop to think about what GMOs are and whether they are harmful in any way, despite being popular. The Journal of International Affairs interviewed Mark Lynas, an environmental writer and biologist, because of how controversial GMOs are, even amongst experts. Lynas does not believe that GMOs are harmful and wholeheartedly supports their consumption; however, contrary to Lynas’ beliefs, genetically modified organisms have caused an increase in agrichemicals and are potentially dangerous for human consumption. First, there is much evidence to support that GMOs are harmful to the environment because they cause an increase of agrichemicals farmers spray on their crops.
In life only one choice can be made, and that choice may affect life forever. And the right decision is not always obvious, but the decision still has to be made. In Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” Frost explains that everybody has to make a choice, nobody can make both choices. Everybody in life will come to a split in the road, and the decision will affect life forever. Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California on March 26, 1874. After Frost’s father death Robert Frost and his family moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts when he was 11 years old. Frost published his first poem in November 8, 1894 called “My Butterfly. An Elegy”. In 1912, Frost and his wife decided to move to England where he became famous for many books of poems
Robert Frost is one of the most beloved and remembered poets of all time. His poems often leave people pondering what exactly they have just read. Frost is known for writing simple poems left open for interpretation. Some of the poems most noted that he wrote are “The Road Not Taken”, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, and “The Wood-Pile”. The interesting connection these three poems have is that they all have a metaphoric meaning to life and glimpses into life and its memories. Frost has an unusual and discreet way of thematically connecting his poems together, but that is what leaves the reader wanting more.
A legacy is known as the mark you leave on the people who surround you and how they will remember you. My legacy that I would like to leave on the world will differ from every decision that I make throughout my life. There’s a poem by Robert Frost called The Road Not Taken. This poem shows how every decision that you make throughout your life can affect your legacy. Each decision that I make today can greatly affect my reputation in the future.
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost is a deep poem. This poem is an autobiographical poem of Frost’s life. However Frost’s first intention in writing the poem was not to be taken seriously. He had written it mocking one of his fellow writing acquaintances because of indecision incidents his acquaintance had made while they would go on walks together. However, when people read the narrative much more seriously than it was intended to be. One of those people that took it seriously was the same acquaintance it had been written for. Soon after that the poem was made famous, and today the poem is one of Robert Frost’s most successful and most famous pieces. Robert Frost is a man who uses literary devices to his advantage in trying to make his work better, devices such as symbolism, imagery, and rhyme scheme which he uses to express his thoughts through this poem, and he does so very well. The way the poem is written makes it have meaning behind it while it had been written in a joking manner. It is also quite easy to read and understand because of literary devices used within it.
Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Frost influenced my thorough love of different styles of literature, particularly poetry. To the masses, Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Frost only share job titles, but the two poets share many similarities within their writing. Personally, I read pieces from both authors over the course of my schooling experience. I admired Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken” from a young age, and that particular stole my heart since the first read. “The Raven,” became one of my favorite poems further down my schooling career, with its clear ominous tone that symbolizes much of Poe’s writing. Frost’s and Poe’s works may not seem similar, aside from the section in which their books reside within a library, but their work resembles each other’s quite well. Frost’s writing serves as a better introduction to poetry due to his easily relatable themes, his background connects to everyday audiences, and his use of modern language.
In the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, the narrator approaches “two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” both looking fairly equal to one another (Frost 1). One path expresses slightly more wear in the grass than the other. Frost tells how the narrator traveled the road less taken, making all the difference in the end. Life is about decisions; some may be challenging, others simple, and sometimes life changing. My challenging decision took me down a rocky path my senior year deciding a career. There are numerous careers and colleges to choose from; however, a student can only choose one. Unlike the majority of my classmates, my career ideas switched, what seemed like, every month.
The great poet Robert Frost was asked if the poem, The Road Not Taken, was about an experience in the poet 's life: He answered that a poem is never about an experience, it is an experience. If you succeed in determining exactly what Dylan meant in “Mr. Tambourine Man,” you will have succeeded in destroying it. This is the song that marks the change where Dylan moves on from the public world of overt political protest songs to a focus on the individual consciousness, which I’d like to argue is another more subtle form of protest. “Mr. Tambourine Man” is rich with expressions of emotion. With a new personal approach to songwriting, Dylan takes feelings that he was perhaps dealing with at the time, absorbs them, and artfully crafts them into mysterious lyrics that are simply enamoring. The song has a bright, expansive melody accompanied by Dylan’s jaunty vocals that is beautifully mesmerizing. The song is about the feeling of being trapped in a miserable existence and the desperate yearning for freedom from an individual’s own personal hell. It is about the universal need to escape one’s troubles, no matter what the means are, as long as it allows you to forget, deal, and hopefully transcend. It has become famous in particular for its surrealistic imagery, influenced by artists as diverse as French poet Arthur Rimbaud and Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. The lyrics call on the title character to play a song and the narrator will follow. Interpretations of the
“Poetry is when emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” (Robert Frost). Robert Frost wrote his poems with emotion and with a connection to his personal life. Frost wrote his poems like no other poet. His works are world renowned and impact literature today. His works are read in schools and people still talk and write about him and his writing today. Frost lived in a hard time period, but he still was able to write and be successful. It took years to become a success, but he was persistent. Not many people had faith in him or knew how much work it would take to be a poet. Frost is the perfect picture of determination and passion. Robert Frost is one of the most famous and influential poets of all time.