work cited for robert frost the road not taken analysis

After choosing one of the roads, the narrator tells himself that he will come back to this fork one. The poem depicts a traveler who has arrived at a fork in a forest where two roads diverge. He considers both paths and concludes that each one is equally well-traveled and appealing. Yes, now you're a bit depressed, but at least you're smarter. Robert Frost: Poems Summary and Analysis of 'The Road Not Taken' (1916) The narrator comes upon a fork in the road while walking through a yellow wood.

Susan Baroncini-Moe has written a very clear stanza-by-stanza explanation of it all here. And finally, it's just an illusion to think one path made a difference over another. We could have just as well taken one path as much as another, but we like to think we actually chose the one we took based on great philosophical deliberation. The big message here? We like to think that we made careful choices to arrive where we are, but in reality, those choices make no difference.

He took one path but could have just as likely taken the other. This certainty, which obviously has a component of decision is acquired this frequently cited and frequently misjudged sonnet The Road not Taken. He was inevitably guided towards his destination by some spirit, some unseen forces that keep working on man. Untermeyer says that Frost has gone his own way. Relating the poem to the reality of Frosts experience. However, in the last stanza, the poet comments (with some sarcasm) how he will look back on this and comment as to how he actually took the path less traveled-even though he didn't. The poem discusses the choices we make, and alludes to the fact that people are unable to test one long road before trying the other. Untermeyer gives the analysis of the poem The Road Not Taken in the following manner. An analysis of the imagery and the symbolism within. The point is this: if you read the work carefully, you'll notice that the poet states that both paths are really about the same in terms of how worn they are. There is a copious amount of symbolism found within the poem by Robert Frost entitled The Road Not Taken. The Paris Review called it the 'most misread poem in America' and excerpted a section from David Orr's book about it. Yes, it's very uplifting in that whole self-satisfying way that assures people that they are brave, not stupid.īut the truth is that this poem is about accepting reality and actually says the opposite of what most people think. In The Road not Taken Frost speaks of a time in his life where he had to make a choice, a choice of which direction his life was about to go: Two roads. The Frost poem most cited and quoted by countless dreamers and other smug prats has a meaning very different from the one people assume. The most common interpretation of this poem is that it espouses the need for individuals to be their own trailblazers and plan their own course forward without simply following in the 'safe' paths of others before them.

Work cited for robert frost the road not taken analysis