ENGLISH WORKSHEET CLASS IX

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Q1. Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow. You may paste this
worksheet in your notebook and just write the answers. The answers should not be more than
2 lines.
i.Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel on both
And be one traveller, long as I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;.
(a) Where was the poet standing?What did he see?
(b) Why did the poet stand there for so long?
(c) Why did the poet describe the wood as yellow?

ii. 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,
(a) Which road did the poet take?
(b) Why did the poet take the other road?
(c) Was it a worn out road or a less travelled path?

iii. 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.
(a) Who does the word “both; refer to?
(b) Explain the phrase ‘…..way leads on to way’?
(c) What doubt did the poet have in his mind?

iv. 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 travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
(a) What would the poet be telling his future generations with a sigh?
(b) What was going on in the poet’s mind as reflected in the above lines?
(c) Explain the phrase ‘And that has made all the difference’?
Q2. What is the message given by the poet Robert Frost through this poem ?(50words)
HINTS for the answers
The poet was in a predicament as he stood before the diverging roads in the yellow wood. He
stood there for a long time contemplating over which road he should take, that is which
choice he should go with. The term ‘One traveller’ is a significant one here in the poem. It
gives us an idea that the speaker was attempting something all on his own on which he
couldn’t have asked anyone for assistance. He looked down one road as far as he could see to
inspect how it was. This is a metaphor for his act of deliberation when making the decision.
When we make big decisions we usually weigh the pros and cons and contemplate how a
certain decision would affect us before we’ve taken it. The poet’s act of looking down
the road to where it bent is a reflection of this.
The poet pondered for a long time over which road he should travel on as he stood in the
yellow wood. He inspected one road and simply took the second which was just as agreeable
as the first one. After thoroughly examining the first option the poet turned to the second and
decided that he was going to go with this choice. The poet explains his reasons for taking the
second choice or ‘road’ in the ensuing lines in the poem. It is important to note here that the
poet says both the roads, that is, both the choices were ‘equally fair’ or agreeable. He does
not say that one was good and the other bad, but that one was perhaps better than the other
The poet says that the road he chose had a better claim than the one he let go because it was
untravelled, thus grassy, and it was as if the road was wanting wear and tear. This is to say
that the choice that the poet had decided on was something new, something no one had done
before. These two lines are interpreted as encouragement to find and explore new avenues by
readers. Again, in the following lines, the poet says that though the second road was grassy it
was worn just about the same as the other. This is contrasting to the previous lines and further
suggests that the poet viewed both the roads, meaning both the choices, about just the same.
Both the roads were equally unexplored that morning when the speaker came to the
divergence in the wood. Both of them were equally untouched. We infer this when the poet
further adds that the leaves on both the roads were not trodden black. No one had passed
through the road that morning before the speaker came there. This further develops the idea
that the poet was doing something unique which no one before him had attempted.
The poet decided to take the second road and says that he kept the first one for some other
day. He further adds that he knows how one decision leads on to another such that one goes
so far that there is no way of turning back. The poet is doubtful if he will ever return to the
same place from where he started. The poet says that he will be recollecting this story with a
sigh of relief for having made the right decision. Although both the choices are equally dear
to the poet, he wanted to experience both and not just choose between the two. This is shown
by the initial lines in the first stanza ‘and sorry I could not travel both.’ This is the reason why
the poet appears unhappy.

The poet says that he ‘took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the
difference.’ This is an often-quoted part of the poem and has grown to represent as a
symbol of motivation for people to do the unconventional and partake in the new and
promising without fear.