Critical Analysis of Robert Frost's 'The Road Not Taken' Poem

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken," exploring its literal and figurative meanings, the poetic devices employed, its historical significance, and its enduring impact on readers. The analysis argues that the poem emphasizes the importance of the choices one makes in life and the acceptance of the consequences, regardless of the path chosen. It examines the use of metaphor, alliteration, repetition, personification, consonance, and assonance in enhancing the poem's meaning and connecting with the reader. The essay also touches upon the poem's origin as a reflection on Frost's friend Edward Thomas and the poem's universal appeal in representing the difficult choices people face. Ultimately, the analysis highlights the poem's ability to provoke reflection on past decisions and the uncertainties of life's journey. Desklib offers more solved assignments and study resources for students.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
ANALYSIS OF THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Introduction
General statement
The paper will analyze the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. In doing so, the
essay will provide its meaning, the poetic devices used, its historical significance and its effect
on the reader. The poem has relevance in the present world as well and people still refer to this
poem when they are faced with a dilemma.
Thesis statement
The essay aims to analyze the poem with the argument that there is no right or
wrong path, only the chosen one. There is no way of escaping the consequences, no matter
which path is chosen. What needs to be understood is that there is no road in the poem less
travelled by, it is rarely an option. Both the roads the speaker talks about, is less travelled by,
this is the simple fact that most conventional readers miss invariably. The path is embedded with
twists and turns, determined by the choices one makes, the chances one takes.
Body
Main point 1
Claim
The meaning of the poem is understood from the title itself however; one has to delve
deeper into the poem to comprehend what the poet actually tries to convey. The starting lines of
the poem introduce the readers to its theme.
Evidence

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“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both” (Frost)
Significance and elaboration
As evident from the above lines, the poet feels sad that despite wanting to explore both
the roads in the forest, he could not travel both. It is the literal meaning of the poem. The poet is
faced with a difficult choice of taking one road and leaving out another against his wish. He
stands for hours and looks at the two roads as far as he could to see where it ends. In the end, he
decides to take the less traveled one and states that the decision has made all the difference in his
life.
Transition sentence
The figurative or metaphorical meaning, which is also the actual meaning of the poem, is
the difficult choices people have to make very often in their lives – choosing between two
desired ways.
Main point 2
Claim
The choice in life – symbolized as the road – is difficult to make because people always
regret leaving out the other and choosing one. The poet regrets that he did not choose the first
road and explore where it went and he might not be have the chance to again to travel the road he
chose to leave. Throughout the poem, the most prominent poetic devise that has been used is the
metaphor. The road has been likened to the life choices people have to make, the grasses
symbolize the difficulties people face after they make the choice.

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Evidence
Other poetic devices like alliteration (“wanted wear”), repetition (“ages and ages hence”),
personification (symbolizing the road in the woods as the life choices), consonance (“And that
has made all the difference”), assonance (“Yet knowing how way leads on to way”) have been
used in the poem (Frost).
Significance and elaboration
Using devices like metaphors and personification in poems heighten the meaning and
produces a surprising response from the readers who finally are able to grasp the poem’s
meaning. However, it must also be remembered that using too many poetic devices or using
those clumsily, creates a meaning that is vague and difficult to understand.
Robert Frost has very cleverly used the poetic techniques like symbolism, tone and
imagery that include the poetic devices as mentioned above. He did not try to make it
complicated by using words and phrases that are beyond a reader’s understanding. While reading
the poem, the reader is able to relate to each line because those have been composed in such a
way as to connect directly with the reader..
Frost composed this poem during the early years of 1915 after returning from England to
his native place, New Hampshire (Frost). He dedicated this poem to his friend and writer Edward
Thomas with whom he had spent three years in England prior to returning. In the poem, Frost
writes about his friend’s habit of being confused every time he used to be confronted with
multiple choices and later regret not choosing the other one. Although Frost meant to compose a
light-hearted poem for his friend, it turned out to be a lesson for life to the readers. Often,

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compositions that the creators expect to produce a different result, leads to another completely
unexpected result.
Transition sentence
Many but argue that Frost did mean to inspire and motivate his friend to stop sighing and
feeling sad about the decisions he took. It is believed that Thomas did take the poem seriously,
which might have prompted him to join the First World War where he died after two years.
Main point 3
Claim
Going through the poem numerous times would compel anyone to rethink on the
decisions or the choices they made. The third stanza of the poem has an everlasting affect on the
reader because it reveals a sad truth about human life and their decisions.
Evidence
“Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back” (Frost)
Significance and elaboration
In these above lines, the poet is clear in stating that he chose the less traveled path and
left the other one for another day knowing that he might never come back. Trotting along one
road might expose other roads and the traveler might be lost in that road forever, never to return

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and explore the road that he chose not to take. The poem makes people think about the choices
they had to make and whether they regret that choice or relish it.
The reader is left puzzled at the end of the poem as well because the poet did not clearly
mention whether the chosen road make a positive or a negative difference in his life. This aspect
also reveals the nature of human beings to know everything beforehand so that they can save
themselves from pain or hurt.
Transition sentence
With the poem ending with a vague statement, incites that curiosity in the reader who
then takes on the onus in him or herself and walks along the unknown path.
Overview of the main points
The poem has a universal and eternal appeal because human beings face difficult
situations throughout their lives irrespective of the time or era. People always have to make
choices and then regret preferring one to the other. In fact, the poem is referred to by scholars
and experts of different fields to indicate the choices made by students or teachers or any
professional that made a difference (Moss).
The analysis hence reveals that the poem has all the elements that make it one of the most
relevant and relatable poems of the century. The paper analyzed the poem’s meaning and found
that it had both literal and figurative meaning. The poetic devices used in the poem have a
profound effect on the readers because it enhances the mood of the poem. Apart from that, the
analysis also highlighted the poem’s historical significance and the reason behind Robert Frost
composing it.

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References:
Frost, Robert. "The road not taken." Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing (2001).
Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken and Other Poems:(Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition).
Penguin, 2015.
Moss, Barbara. "The Common Core Text Exemplars-A Worthy New Canon or Not?." Voices
from the Middle 21.1 (2013): 48.