This document provides context and analysis of Robert Frost's well-known poem "The Road Not Taken." It discusses Frost's biography and background as an American poet. It then analyzes key elements of the poem, including its structure, literary devices, symbolism, and themes of decision-making and the uncertainty of how life choices can impact the future. The poem tells the story of a traveler who comes to a forked road in the woods and must choose which path to take, realizing later that this decision may have led his life in a different direction than if he had opted for the other road.

1. The Road Not
Taken
ROBERT FROST

2. ABOUT THE POET:
Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963)
was an American poet. His work was initially published in
England before it was published in America. He is highly
regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his
command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently
employed settings from rural life in New England in the
early twentieth century, using them to examine complex
social and philosophical themes. 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 poetic works. On July 22, 1961, Frost was named Poet
laureate of Vermont.

4. ABOUT THE POEM
• It is a poem that has four five-line stanzas with
only two end rhymes in each stanza (abaab). Several
kinds of literary devices can be found in the poem.
One of the literary devices employed is antithesis.
• It contains four stanzas and each one contains five
lines each. This is called a quintain, hence this poem
is made up of four quintains. In total this makes
twenty lines thus a middle sized poem.
• Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, (A) And sorry
I could not travel both (B) And be one traveler, long
I stood (A) And looked down one as far as I could
(A) To where it bent in the undergrowth; (B)

5. • Consonance and Assonance are widely used
throughout as we can see in the following examples
respectively: ''And that has made all the difference.''
''Yet knowing how way leads on to way, 'Repetition
is the final sound device that can be easily spotted
in Frost's poem, especially in this line: ''Somewhere
ages and ages hence:''.
• Just like a song this poem has rhythm. The rhythm
is iambic. This implies that there is a quiet syllable
before a loud syllable.
• Syntax and Structure .Each stanza contains 5 lines.
Long I stood is an example of a different syntax
because it would normally be said as I stood Long.
• Rhythm and Meter. There is a similar syllable
pattern throughout the poem. For example the first
line in each stanza has 9 syllables.

6. Figures of Speech and Symbolism
Personification
Because it was grassy and wanted wear.
Robert Frost is not actually talking about a
road fork in the woods. Rather, he is using
the concept of a diverging road to relate to
making decisions in life.

7. THE POEM

8. 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;

9. 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,

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. SUMMARY
The narrator comes upon a fork in the road while
walking through a yellow wood. He considers both
paths and concludes that each one is equally well-
traveled and appealing. After choosing one of the
roads, the narrator tells himself that he will come back
to this fork one day in order to try the other road.
However, he realizes that it is unlikely that he will ever
have the opportunity to come back to this specific
point in time because his choice of path will simply
lead to other forks in the road (and other decisions).
The narrator ends on a nostalgic note, wondering how
different things would have been had he chosen the
other path.

13. THANK YOU !!!
BY: Via Marie E. Arriola