3. 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.
5. Robert Lee Frost
• Robert Frost was born in San Francisco,
California, to journalist William Prescott Frost,
Jr., and Isabelle Moodie.
• Frost graduated from Lawrence High School
in 1892.
• In 1894 he sold his first poem, "My Butterfly.
An Elegy" (published in the November 8,
1894, edition of the New York Independent)
for $15 ($409 today).
6. Robert Lee Frost
• One of the most popular and critically
respected American poets of the twentieth
century, Frost was honored frequently during
his lifetime, receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for
Poetry.
• He became one of America's rare "public
literary figures, almost an artistic institution."
• He was awarded the Congressional Gold
Medal in 1960 for his poetical works.
9. Stanza 1
• On the road of life, the speaker arrives at a
point where he must decide which of two
equally appealing (or equally intimidating)
choices is the better one. He examines
one choice as best he can, but the future
prevents him from seeing where it leads.
10. Stanza 2
• The speaker selects the road that appears at
first glance to be less worn and therefore less
traveled.
• This selection suggests that he has an
independent spirit and does not wish to follow
the crowd.
• After a moment, he concludes that both roads
are about equally worn.
11. Stanza 3
• Leaves cover both roads equally. No one
on this morning has yet taken either road, for
the leaves lie undisturbed.
• The speaker remains committed to his
decision to take the road he had previously
selected, saying that he will save the other
road for another day. He observes, however,
that he probably will never pass this way
again and thus will never have an opportunity
to take the other road.
12. Stanza 4
• In years to come, the speaker says, he will
be telling others about the choice he
made. While doing so, he will sigh either
with relief that he made the right choice or
with regret that he made the wrong choice.
• Whether right or wrong, the choice will
have had a significant impact on his life.
13. Conclusion
• The road beyond the bend may represent the future or the
unknown, neither of which can be perceived.
• Here, Frost uses personification, saying that the road has a
claim.
• Personification occurs here also if wanted means desired.
• No personification occurs, however, if wanted means lacked.
• Sigh can indicate relief or happiness, or it can indicate regret
or sorrow.
• The interpretation of its meaning is up to the reader.
