AN ANALYSIS OF METAPHORS IN ROBERT FROST’S SELECTED POEM TITLED,

“THE ROAD NOT TAKEN”

A fulfillment requirement in

ENG 121: Structures of English

An Analysis Presented to

Ms. Jovel Say-a

by:

Quijardo, Celine Rose F.

Timon, Genre James B.

MAY 2023
DATA:

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

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;

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,

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.

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.

ANALYSIS:

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost describes how the speaker struggles to
choose between two roads diverging in the yellowish woods on an autumn morning.
Due to the diction being used in depicting two different roads, the first two lines show
strong imagery, showing the colors of autumn, and displaying the theme of regret where
the predicament was then introduced later on where it was revealed that the speaker
has come to the point in his life where he must make decisions for his next steps which
made the speaker in the poem dispirited since he had to let other go in order to gain
something in life. These were much shown further in lines three through five, where the
metaphor here creates a powerful image for the reader, showing someone trying to
make a difficult decision by comparing it to a walk in the woods.

"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."

From the first stanza, we can comprehend that the poet is emphasizing that we
all try our best to guess what lies ahead for us in every opportunities that we are
presented to. This is where we attempt to find some control over our final decisions. We
usually like to take our time to make informed conclusions so we can justify our choices
when the regret of missing out on the other "roads" starts haunting us.

"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."

After reading the second stanza, it may seem that the speaker finally makes a
decision and picks a road that he believes is better because it looked like not many
people had walked on it before. In lines six and seven, the uncertainty of the character
was being depicted as he tries to justify his decision. However, in lines nine and ten, he
is quick to add that the other road looked equally used in comparison to the one he
chose, thus it was not as less traveled as he was telling himself. The important idea to
note in these lines is that we will always choose the route which seems inviting and is of
interest to us, even if both paths have the equal prospect of getting us to wherever it is
headed.

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.

 In the third stanza, Robert Frost notes in lines eleven and twelve that at the
moment that this individual was making his decision, both paths were nearly
comparable. No one had stridden through to disturb the leaves on both roads. Line
thirteen is an important point in 'The Road Not Taken' as this is when the individual
finalizes his decision of leaving the other road. Lines fourteen and fifteen gives us a
peek at his doubts. The speaker here honestly admits to himself as he makes the vital
decision of which road to take that it's highly, bearing the thought that he won’t be able
to turn back the time in case it wasn’t the better choice to make.

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.

These lines of the last stanza emphasizes the nature of our regrets. When it
comes to challenging decisions in our lives, we always know that no matter what we
choose, eventually, we will regret not being able to try the possibility that was left
uncharted. This is where the speaker was determined not to tell the tale honestly as it
will not validate his preference of the road if he showcases his regret by stating that an
equal opportunity could have landed him elsewhere in life. Due to this, the speaker
would come across as a person who took a chance and flourished in life. This leads
readers that they never know where life will take them, so preplanning what the end of
the road looks like for themselves, and building regret is silly especially if they haven't
even begun the journey in the first place. Life is about the paths you choose to walk
through, not about "the road not taken."
DISCUSSION:

Written in 1915 in England, "The Road Not Taken" is one of Robert Frost's —
and the world — most well-known poems. Although commonly analyzed as an
extravaganza of rugged individualism, the poem possesses multiple different meanings.
The speaker in the poem, faced with a choice between two roads, takes the road "less
traveled," a decision which he or she supposes "made all the difference." However,
Frost constructs enough subtle ambiguity in the poem that it's unclear whether the
speaker's judgment should be taken at face value, and therefore, whether the poem is
about the speaker making a simple but impactful choice, or about how the speaker
interprets a choice whose influence is indistinct (Spacey, 2023).

'The Road Not Taken' is an indefinite poem that allows the reader to think about
choices in life, whether to go with the mainstream or go it alone. If life is a journey, this
poem accentuates those times in life when a decision has to be made. Which way will
you go? The ambiguity springs from the question of free will versus determinism
(Spacey, 2023), whether the speaker in the poem consciously decides to take the road
that is off the beaten track or only does so because he doesn't fancy the road with the
bend in it. External factors, therefore, make up his mind for him.

Robert Frost wrote this poem to highlight a trait of, and poke fun at, his friend
Edward Thomas, an English-Welsh poet, who, when out walking with Frost in England,
would often regret not having taken a different path. Thomas would sigh over what they
might have seen and done, and Frost thought this quaintly romantic (Spacey, 2023).

His poetic masterpiece is arguably the most infamously misunderstood poem as

of yet. Marrying elements of form and content, capturing artistic phraseology and
metaphors, the poem is mostly read without being understood (Asad, 2015). The
archetypal conundrum is the primary attraction of the poem, readers immediately relate
to their personal experiences. Forks and woods are used as metaphorical devices
relating to decisions and crises (Campbell, 2022). Similar forks are examples of the
everlasting struggle against fate and free will. Since humans are free to select as per
their will, their fate is unknown to them.
 The poem also steers clear suggestions on selecting a definitive path. Frost's
take on this is slightly complicated. The grassy roads and yellow woods represent the
present as the individual views from a future perspective. This self-realization is pathetic
and ironic in itself. The future self will regret first his decision about taking the road less
traveled. In hindsight, his regret is endless in this case point.

According to Bergman (2018), Robert Frost used an interesting style in 'The

Road Not Taken'. He works within the form, but at times, the form works within his style.
Using variation and his brand of words, Robert Frost's poems followed a remarkable
composition. At times, he created forms to suit his poetry. He has a general tendency to
work within and without boundaries, carving impressive, identifiable, and idiosyncratic
poetry. In his early years, he perfected the art of "sound of sense", bringing raw sensory
perception to the human mind. The sound of words forms imagery due to the form of
words and sound of sense.

Frost uses several metaphors in this poem to bring home his ingenious ideas.
For example, the title of the poem, 'The Road Not Taken' contains a metaphor. In it, the
"road" is a metaphor for the choice we make. Moving on to the text, there is another
metaphor in the "yellow wood" (Sarkar, 2022). In this phrase, the poet implicitly
compares the idea of change to the yellowish wood. He compares the speaker of this
piece to a traveler who is struck while choosing the best option to carry on his journey.

Likewise, readers can find another metaphor in the last stanza. Here, the road
"less traveled by" is a metaphor for the choices less preferred by humans (Asad, 2015).
It refers to unconventional things that a pragmatic society doesn't follow at all. However,
some people choose such unconventional options. So, in the speaker's case, he has
not opted for the rarest choice.
REFERENCES:

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href="https://poemanalysis.com/robert-frost/the-road-not-taken/">
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Bergman, B., (2018, December 20) The Road Not Taken. LitCharts LLC. <em> Poetry
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road-not-taken/”> https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/robert-frost/the-road-not-
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Campbell, R., (2022, December 9) g17 Metaphor Poems You’ll Love Readinf. <em>

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Spacey, A., (2023, March 30) Analysis of Poem “The Road Not Taken”. </em> Analysis
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