| The Road Less Traveled Essay, Research Paper
Seth Courter
Eng. 146 Comp. II
11/15/00
Chi, Poem Essay
Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Less Traveled” amazingly
first written was not intended to convey certain aspects of what
it is now interpreted as. Life is a road with different paths.
Taking one path over another forever changes the course of ones
life for the good or bad. Though Frost’s poem as he told was
about him getting separated from his friend in the woods. It
can’t be denied that this poem clearly shows his beliefs, that it is
the road that someone chooses that makes them who they are
today or who they will become.
With the first line opening “And Sorry” already you get a
sense of regret. “…I could not travel both” what opportunities
will be missed? That is why it is difficult to make a decision.
You can’t travel down every path you want. It isn’t possible to do
everything. “,long I stood And looked down one as far as I could”
Never the less you still have to make a decision in where you
want to go. He looks down the path to where it bent in the
undergrowth, trying to see an outcome. This isn’t possible
though, as any choice you make, the complete outcome is never
known.
“Then took the other as just as fair, And having perhaps the
better claim,” The other path he looked at, looked really the
same as the other but he thought one having the better claim. If
they both look just as fair, something must make it have the
better claim. “Because it was grassy and wanted wear;” The
next two lines may begin to confuse. “Though as for that, the
passing there Had worn them really about the same,” One path
looks like it needs wear to him thought it may not to other
people. He was interested in taking that path not of the majority.
Something he hasn’t done before makes him want to experience
it. The traveler then if choosing ‘the path less traveled” only
shows his personality. Not following the crowd but doing what
he wants, what he has never done. Experience what is new,
different. To wear the inexperienced down to experienced.
The leaves fallen cover the ground of the path he wants to
take. “And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had
trodden black.” This statement again reassures the reader and
also the traveler, this is the path less traveled. Each time you
come upon a decision it is new to you. It is a first experience, it
is a path with leaves yet to be turned black from wear. Desire
would have it that you can experience two different choices and
see their consequences. “I kept the first for another day!” that
is his desire to be able to come back to the path. “Yet, knowing
how way leads to way” shows that one decision leads to a new
different one. In reality you cannot come back to the decision
you chose to waive. This is proven by the last line is this stanza,
“I doubted if I should ever come back.” This choice he makes is
forever sealed.
In the last stanza “I Shall be telling this with a sigh”.
Regret emerges from the beginning and once more at the end of
the poem. Not necessarily at the end of his life but, just later on
when time has passed. “Somewhere ages and ages hence:” He
will have some regret that he didn’t take the other path. This is
why he sighs. Thinking, if taking the more traveled path he could
have been able to not have experienced certain aspect of his life
that he disliked. Again reiterating “I took the one less traveled
by,”. Although he seems to have regrets about what he has
chosen, he still remains confident and proud for the decision he
made. “And that has made all the difference.” What made the
biggest difference, what really seems to be important is doing
what one desires. If one does take the road less traveled in their
own mind, you will not be the person could have been. He would
have not become the person that he is today, that is what has
made all the difference.
Perhaps the most difficult thing in life to do is to make
decisions. Like all of us Robert Frost had to make choices.
Some things we all have to eventually choose for example is
whether or not we want go to college. Or joining the work force,
what job, where, when, how long. Maybe Robert Frost wanted us
to see how important these things are. Making the reader see
how important it is to do what you want. Taking time to and
reflecting on choices you are going to make.
This poem can have many meaning, and could have been
the very intention of Frost. This poem does enable anyone to
relate to it through their experience, which is why Frost is world
renown for his writings. Life can revolve around experiences,
ones you learn from and other’s you teach from. Experiences are
achieved throughout choices you make. Making choices forms
people into who they are, and who they become. When looking
at a choice generally you have two option, two paths in which
you can go down. Choosing which path to take makes a
difference. Once you make the decision, it is difficult, perhaps
impossible to change the course you have chosen. You can’t go
back and make the other choice. The speaker makes the
decision and realizes that it may not of been right. It has made
him into who he is, and comfortable with himself it make him
content.
“The Road Not Taken”
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 onto 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.
– Robert Frost
Work Cited
Wakefield, Richard. Robert Frost and the Opposing Lights of the
hour. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1985
Cofin, Robert P. Tristram. New Poetry of New England Frost and
Robinson. New York: Russell & Russell, 1964
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