The Road Not Taken - Analysis
The poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’ was written by Robert Frost. The poem is about a person who stands at a crossroad, and he has to make a choice on what road to travel and which one to abandon. The reason for the choice is that it was impossible for the narrator to travel both at the same time. One of the roads shows that it is commonly used because it is wide and has evidence of people using it. On the other hand, the other one is never used because it is grassy. The speaker takes one road with the thought of taking the other one another time, but he is also unlikely to come back. In addition, he claims that somewhere in the future, he will have to narrate that he took the less traveled road. In this discussion, I will analyze the form, sound, and figurative language.
Form
Poetic form is the structure in which a poem is founded. It describes the how the poem looks like as well as how it sounds. In ‘The Road Not Taken’ Frost created a four-stanza poem where each of them has five lines. The rhyme scheme that is visible throughout the poem is ABAAB. Also, one can be tempted to state the rhymes are stick and masculine; but the last line in the last stanza can be excluded from the description because we rarely stress the last syllable in the term difference.
Sound
The sound in poetry examines the rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration among others that by how the line of poem echoes. In most poems, the rhyme scheme is used to make the poem memorable and fun to recite. However, Frost uses the same art but to stress the imagery in his poem. For instance, in the first stanza, the terms wood, stood, and could are all rhyming words (FROST Lines 1, 2, 3). However, the main problem in this poem is that the words are not read in a way that makes them outstanding among others. The reason for this is because frost tries to explain severe issues in the society. The poem is about making choices in life, some of which are irreversible. The rhyme is ABAAB and is composed amid several poses. Meaning that the poem is supposed to be slow where one is supposed to pose and think of the decisions about to be made.
Figurative Language
The ‘Road Not Taken’ uses various figurative language to deliver the intended message to the reader. One of the figures used is the metaphor which seems to apply throughout the poem. The ‘Road’ for instance can be said to represent a metaphor for life and the way that people conducts their decisions. We are always expected to make future decisions with the available information we have. This is represented as a metaphor in lines 4 and 5:
And looked down one as far as I could (FROST ln 3)
To where it bent in the undergrowth (FROST ln 4)
Also, the author also tries to explain that we tend to make spur of the moment decisions, ‘then took the other, as just as fair’ (FROST ln 6). This is life-changing decisions that we may never be able to correct in the future. Moreover, the metaphor for this is found in line 15 where the narrator says, ‘I doubted if I should ever come back’ showing that most decisions we make are irreversible in (FROST).
Conclusion
In summary, the ‘The Road Not Taken’ means that when we take life decisions, it is essential to examine the arrangements before we can make them. This is because some of the choices we make change our lives forever, and we may never get a second chance to correct the mistakes. I chose this poem because it is most relevant to the youth because they have a whole future ahead and need to be aware of their choices. I will remember this poem whenever am about to make decisions on the spur of the moment, then think twice and make the right choice.
Works Cited
FROST, ROBERT. "The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost." Poetry Foundation. N.p., 2018.
