Literature: The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

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.

1. A lot of figurative language is used in this poem, but almost all of them are symbolisms, which are used from the beginning of the poem until the end. "The two roads" probably symbolize the two careers which the author could take. "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;" symbolizes the author's longing to take both careers. One road being "Grassy and wanted wear" symbolizes the career being unique and special in the author's eyes, as nobody had done that job yet."Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same" symbolizes the author realizing that the career he chose was actually not unique because many other people had also done this job. The poet chose to use a lot of symbolisms as he wanted to refrain from directly telling the readers his follies. In other words, the author wanted to mask his blunders yet express his regret to the reader."Somewhere ages and ages hence:" is a hyperbole, on the other hand. The author used the word "ages" as he wanted to make those words seem like from a fairy tale and appear to be a very long time ago, although both of them are not true.

2. I think that this poem is good as it is not straightforward or direct but requires some thought to fully understand what it actually hints at. This is because it masks much of the true content with symbolisms. This poem even has a twist at the end, as the poet lies by saying that, "I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." However, it is already known that the author is lying as he stammered, hesitating before telling the lie as seen from "and I-I". It also can be deduced using logic that the poet is lying, as the front part of his poem betrays him, along with "I shall be telling this with a sigh", as if the author really thought that the career that he chose made a difference in his life for the better, then he would not be sighing.