3. Stanza 1 – Summary
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;
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.
4. Stanza 2 – Summary
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,
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.
5. Stanza 3 – Summary
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.
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.
6. Stanza 4 – Summary
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.
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.
7. SYNOPSIS
This poem is about the poet who is enjoying his walk in the woods. He
came to a point where the road branched into two.
He had to make a choice to choose which road to travel, so he stood there
wondering which one to take. Then, he decided to choose the less
travelled one.
He hopes that he can return on the other day and explore the other
road. However, he did not get the chance to do so as the road he
chooses took him further and further in life.
After many years, he looked back and ponders about his decision he had
made many years ago.
The choice he had made many years ago have brought a great influence
upon his life (shaped his life) and eventually making him the man he is
today.
8. VOCABULARY
diverged: branched off; moved in a different
direction
undergrowth: small trees and plants growing
beneath larger trees
fair: promising; favorable
claim: demand or right
trodden: walked on
hence: from this time
9. POINT OF VIEW
The Road not taken is told from a first person point of view. The narrator describes
the events that happened to him using “I” to describe himself. This point of view
allows the reader to understand the character’s thoughts and actions to the full
extent.
SETTING
It is autumn season and the leaves are changing colour (yellow). As we know
autumn period of life is reflecting the late middle age of life. Besides that, it
happens in a lonely forest/woods in the countryside one early morning. There are
two roads running through the forest. At the beginning of the poem the persona is
still young (flashback) and he has become much older when it reaches the last
stanza.
10. THEMES
Individualism
.......The speaker chooses to go his own way, taking the “road less traveled” (line
19).
Caution
.......Before deciding to take the "road less traveled" (line 19), the speaker takes time
to consider the other road. He says, "[L]ong I stood / And looked down one as far as
I could" (lines 3-4).
Commitment
.......The speaker does not have second thoughts after making his decision.
Accepting a Challenge
.......It may be that the road the speaker chooses is less traveled because it presents
trials or dangers. Such challenges seem to appeal to the speaker
11. MORAL VALUES
We have to take the opportunities that life has to offer us
to make a choice
Think carefully before we make choices
We have to make the right choice and understand
ourselves
Should not have the feeling of regret for our choice
If we make the right choice, we can have a contended life
Appreciate the beauty of nature
12. TONE : POET’S ATTITUDE
The tone of this poem is satisfied. Even though the persona wishes that he could have taken
both of the roads, he is pleased with the one that he chose. Because he decided on the
“road less travelled by’, and therefore the less morally dubious of the two roads
(metaphorically speaking), he is satisfied that he did the right thing.
MOOD
Thoughtful and reflective.
SYMBOLS
Yellow wood = represents life/ the maturity or mellowing of the
individual.
In leaves no step had trodden black= shows that the leaves were not
walked upon by anyone/the path is unexplored.
Diverging road= symbolizes two options that appear equally good
13. METAPHOR
In ‘The Road Not Taken’, he uses the metaphor of ‘roads’ to represent the idea of the choices we
make in our lives. Throughout the poem, he uses the roads to represent the differences between
making the easy choice and making the more difficult one.
IMAGERY
Imagery is very important in The Road Not Taken because the narrator is describing the setting
for most of the poem. Much of the imagery is visual as the persona tells about the scenery.
There is also a little bit of auditory (sound imagery) when he sighs.
The paths that divide in the forest are portrayed as grassy, fair, and about equally worn.
The imagery contributes a lot to the meaning of the poem because, without the description of
the forest and the paths, it wouldn’t make sense that the narrator was uncertain about
choosing a certain path. Because both of the paths were said to be not trodden, the reader can
also understand that in the end, the narrator took the path less travelled by.
