The Road Not Taken Poetry Essay

The Road Not Taken Poetry Essay

In order to write a poetry analysis essay, the reader must first understand the symbols and deeper meaning behind the speaker's words in the poem. In his poem, "The Road Not Taken", Robert Frost faces two roads which seem to depict choices in life. The speaker evaluates his choices and consequences, makes a decision, and follows it through regretfully. The writer used imagery to describe the road he took and diction to imply regret and reflection regarding his decision. He used symbolism and archetype in the statement "fork in the road" which reflects unseen choices about life that must be made.

In the first stanza, the speaker writes "Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood" in which he describes his situation (610). He has come upon a fork in the road. The poem was written in 1916, when there were scarcely cars around so the imagery in this stanza depicts that the roads were most likely worn out paths with a lot of yellow leaves on the ground. In lines 2-3, the speaker wants to go down both roads but realizes he cannot be on two roads at the same time. He appears regretful that he cannot travel down both paths and so he stands there initially hesitant. The word "stood" in line 3 suggests he was not driving a car. The line "And Looked Down One As Far As I Could" illustrate he is looking down the road to see where it goes (610). One could imagine what if it was not really a fork in the road but a fork in the road of the speaker's life? That there are some tough choices to be made and will he make the right one?

In the second stanza, the writer chooses to take the path less traveled after looking down the initial road for a long time. It's almost like he was thinking "well I am not sure which way I will go but I must make a choice and I choose this road". After beginning on the road he chose, he stated the road is "as just as fair" which symbolize the road he picked was not much difference from the one he was musing over for so long (610). Between lines 7-8 of the poem, the writer first seems unsure of his choice, then sure and tells us why "Because It Was Grassy and Wanted Wear" (610). In lines 9-10, the speaker was saying his path was not as worn as he had thought and may be hinting that the roads are equally good.

The speaker continues to describe his path in the third stanza. In lines 11-12, he speaks about the "morning equally lay" (610). Maybe the writer is saying he is the first person on the path that morning which could explain all the yellow leaves on the ground. In line 13, the speaker begins to give us an idea about regretting his decision. He seems to implicate that if he were to come back another day he would go down the other path. Sometimes that is how people deal with difficult