WELL EXPLAINED

2. Robert Lee Frost
Born: March 26, 1874, San Francisco, California,
United States
Died: January 29, 1963, Boston, Massachusetts,
United States
An American poet who was much admired for his
depictions of the rural life of New England, his
command of American colloquial speech, and his
realistic verse portraying ordinary people in
everyday situations. The Road Not Taken" is
published in 1916 as the first poem in the collection
Mountain Interval.

3. The Road Not Taken
 The road not
taken as per some
researchers is
autobiographical.
 The poem’ The road
not taken ‘talks
about the choices
one has to make
and their
consequences.
The road is used as a metaphor for
the choices made by us in life. Many a
times we regret the choice we make
but what is done cannot be undone.
Man always regrets on what he has
denied himself in life and not what
he has chosen . So the poet has given
the title ‘The Road Not Taken’.
The poet describes his feelings about
the choices he has made in his life.
He tells that the path we choose
decides our future.

8.  Once the poet was walking down a road and then there was a diversion, there were two
different paths and he had to choose one out them.
 The poet says that as he was one person, he could travel on one road only. He had to choose
one out of these two roads .
 The poet kept standing there and looked at the path very carefully as far as he could see it.
 Before taking the path, he wanted to know how it was. Was it suitable for him or not?..
 He was able to see the path till from where it curved after which it was covered with trees and
was hidden.
 Figurative meaning-
 It happens in our life also when we have choices, we have
alternatives, but we have to choose only one out of them, we
take time to think about the pros and cons, whether it is
suitable for us or not and only then, we take a decision on
what path we should choose.

9. Yellow wood
The leaves of the
trees have turned
yellow due
to autumn season

10. diverged: separated and took a different
direction
yellow wood: a forest with decomposing
leaves
Yellow - represents autumn
undergrowth: dense growth of plants and
bushes - means the forest)

12.  The poet kept on looking at one path for a long time to check if it is the
right path for him or not.
 Then he decided and started walking on another path. He says just as
fair which means it was equally good as the other. Some where he felt
that it was a better one. He actually means to say that the decision he
has taken may give him success.
 He adds that maybe he felt that the path was better for him so he
chooses it as it had grass on it which means that it was unused. Not
many people had walked on this path earlier that is why this path was
grassy.
 ‘And wanted wear’ means that it was not walked over by many
people.

13.  After he walked on the path for some distance, he
realized that both the paths had been worn out the
same way.
 Both the paths were similar and worn out.
 Even in our life, we take any path or option but all of
them have the same benefits, disadvantages, problems,
challenges and we must face them.
 We think that we are choosing a better option, but it is
not that way.

14. Wanted wear-had not been
used
fair: As good as the other one
Claim-Better option

17.  The poet says that both the paths were similar that morning. Both had leaves on
them and no one had stepped on them as they were still green in colour.
 He decided that, that day he would take one path and keep the other path for
another day, although he knew that one way leads on to another way.
 He knew that he could not go back on the choice that he had made..
Similarly, even in our life once we choose an option, we must keep on moving ahead
with that option and we never get a chance to come back and take the other option
that we had left earlier.

18. • two roads which represents two or
more choices in our life

20.  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..
 What ever it is ,the choice will have a significant impact on his life.
 Similarly, in future, when you grow up, then you will say that once upon a time,
when you were young, you had two options. The choice that you made, made
you what you became of it.
This is a very strong message for all the students - that you should be wise and be
careful while making choices out of the options that you have in your life because
your future depends on the choice that you make today.

21. Metaphor-implied simile
Ex-
His heart is a cold iron.
Technology is a dinosaur.
The road is the choices we make in life.

22. Imagery-Imagery is used to make the readers feel
things through their five senses.
Ex- leaves, yellow woods.
These images help readers to actually
perceive things they are reading.

23. Simile-is a comparison between two unlike things using
the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
‘As just as fair’- it shows how the poet has linked the road less
taken to the easy way through life.
Ex-
The wind howled as the storm grew stronger.
The car died in the middle of the road.
Personification-gives human qualities to non-living
things or ideas.
It was grassy and wanted wear- as if road is human and that it
wants to wear and tear.

24.  Alliteration-the occurrence of the same
letter or sound at the beginning of
adjacent or closely connected words.
 Ex-
 Hank held his head high.
 Wanted wear
 First for
 Though ,that
 Anaphora-is a repetition of a word phrase, or clause at the
beginning of two or more clauses or sentence in a row.
 Ex-
 I came, I saw, I conquered.
 And-And-And- first stanza.
‘and’ repeated at the beginning of lines 2, 3 and 4

25. Repetition: Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same
words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer and more memorable.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
"Oh, woeful, oh woeful, woeful, woeful day!
--Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
‘Ages’ is repeated.
 ‘Two roads diverged in a wood’- this sentence is repeated in stanzas 1 and
4.

26. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1.The poet regrets that-
i. he could not travel on both the roads simultaneously
ii.he has become old
iii.the roads are covered with thick undergrowth
iv. the paths are not clearly visible
2.What does Poet’s long stare at the path signify?
i.the time taken by people to decide and making a choice
ii.poet loves nature
iii.idling away of time
iv.relaxation hours
3.What does the poem speak about?
i.about the plight of roads
ii.about the people
iii.about one road
iv.about the choices made by people

27. 1. i. he could not travel on both the roads simultaneously
ANSWERS:
2. i.the time taken by people to decide and making a choice
3. iv.about the choices made by people

28. I. Extra Questions
1. Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?
The traveller finds himself in the yellow woods at a point where the road forks into two. The
problem that he faces is that he cannot decide which road to take to continue his journey since
it is not possible for him to travel both roads at the same time.
2. Discuss what these phrases mean to you.
(i) a yellow wood
Yellow wood symbolises the autumn season. Autumn corresponds with old age. The poet
could be symbolically talking about the later stages of life.
(ii) it was grassy and wanted wear
It means that the path had a lot of grass on it. This means that it had not been walked over by
many people. It had to be worn out by the steps of the people who walked on it.

29. (iii) the passing there
It means that when he walked over the path that he had chosen.
(iv) leaves no step had trodden black
The leaves had not changed their colour and turned black because of less people
stepping on them. It could represent a path one may have never/seldom taken in
life for the fear of uncertainty.
(v) how way leads on to way
This phrase means how certain decisions one makes in life could pave the way for
many other decisions.

30. II. Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow
1.“And both that morning equally lay
……. I doubted if I should ever come back.’’
i. What does ’both’ stand for?
‘Both’ stands for the two roads
ii. What did the poet decide?
He decided that he would take the second road and leave the first one for some other day.
iii. Explain ‘leaves no step had trodden black’ imply?
No traveller had trodden on either of the two roads. It was evident from the fact that the fallen and sodden leaves
lay uncrushed there. No feet had trampled them.
iv. Why did the poet think he will not return?
He could take only one road at a time. He chose the second one and decided to take the first one another day.
But he doubted whether he would be able to come back and take the first one because one roads leads to
another.