Analysis of The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost 1874 (San Francisco) – 1963 (Boston)
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Scheme | ABAAB CDCCD EFEEF GXGGX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (35%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 110100101 010111101 011100111 011111111 11110010 110101111 010010101 0111100101 11110101 111100101 011101001 01111101 1110110101 110111111 1101111011 111101101 1100101 110100101 11011101 011110100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 731 |
Words | 159 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
About this poem
The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is an iconic poem about making choices and taking risks in life. Written in 1916, the poem is set in a forest where the speaker finds himself at a fork in the road and must choose between two paths. The poem speaks to the idea of taking risks and forging your own path in life, and the overall message is that it is better to make your own decisions and be true to yourself, even though it might be hard. Through the use of metaphor and symbolism, Frost's poem is a timeless reminder of the importance of making conscious decisions and taking responsibility for our choices. more »
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