The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost 1874 (San Francisco) – 1963 (Boston)



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.

About this poem

The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is an iconic poem about making choices and taking risks in life. Written in 1916, the poem is set in a forest where the speaker finds himself at a fork in the road and must choose between two paths. The poem speaks to the idea of taking risks and forging your own path in life, and the overall message is that it is better to make your own decisions and be true to yourself, even though it might be hard. Through the use of metaphor and symbolism, Frost's poem is a timeless reminder of the importance of making conscious decisions and taking responsibility for our choices.  

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified by acronimous on September 17, 2024

47 sec read
878,294

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAAB CDCCD EFEEF GXGGX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 731
Words 159
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5

Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in America. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. more…

All Robert Frost poems | Robert Frost Books

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Discuss the poem The Road Not Taken with the community...

43 Comments
  • RickthePoetWarrior
    The effect of the first line of the last stanza is so perfect. Every reader will feel the emotion of the poem and is prepped for his closing argument. It echoes the 'yellow wood' from line one. It explains the previous dialogue. 'Ages and ages' for timing effect. It's the only two line sentence re-inforces the 'aging'. Frost was brilliant. 
    LikeReply 17 days ago
  • jspaid1111
    As an English teacher, and I'm also indebeted to a college Englis professor I had for this understanding, a closer reading of this poem reveals it not to actually be about any "choices" in life, but rather about how we misrepresent those choices to ourselves and others through the psychological mechanism of denial. In the second stanza of the poem Frost acutally tells us that the paths are just the same. He says that he "took the other, as just as fair", in other words he choose the other path in the woods, but the one he didn't choose was "just as fair", or just as beautiful or good. And then at the end of the stanza he says that the walking upon them has "worn them really about the same". He makes it clear that the paths are practically identical, but in the last stanza of the poem he says that he will later tell people that "I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference". This is in fact a lie, but it's a lie of deception to himself, first and foremost, as the phrase "that has made all the difference" shows us that he wants to seem to himself--and yes in the eyes of others as well--to have made a brave, courageous choice in life that most others would be unable to make. And of course we all do this to some extent, where we tell the stories of our lives, to others and even to ourselves, in slightly positively exaggerated ways to make ourselves, and perhaps life itself, a little more interesting, a little more exciting, a little more meaningful. Frost understood human nature intensely, which of course is what made him such a powerful poet, and here as in so many of his poems he uses the simple device of a quiet walk in the woods to mirror our deepest urges and motivations back to ourselves. 
    LikeReply16 days ago
  • apehoward1995
    The path less taken is always full of mystery and new adventure. If we're could take both we wouldn't discover anything fore it would all already be taken.
    LikeReply20 days ago
  • gumawajustinryan999
    New here.
    LikeReply20 days ago
  • gumawajustinryan999
    New writer here please read mine too
    LikeReply20 days ago
  • nelzealoursmotoe1
    {And sorry I could not travel both
    And be one traveler}
    And no one can simultaneously travel both and be one traveler. Lovely expressed!
    LikeReply21 days ago
  • DSHERIDAN1
    I love his poems. The Road Not Taken was one of my favorite poems by him.
    LikeReply1 month ago
  • Waiganjo
    With a sigh I looked back, unlike him knowing I picked the wrong one
    LikeReply1 month ago
  • Noddy
    Frost does revel in ambiguity, language that like that fork in the road, can be taken at least two ways. That’s why I always find his final verse so intriguing. What’s with that sigh? What kind of sigh? And he knows already he’ll be telling exactly what ages and ages hence? And what kind of difference has the choice he made back then had on his life? Does the sigh mean he wishes he hadn’t made the choice that made all the difference? I don’t know.
    But I’ve read myself into the poem at various times, high and low, in my life, and depending on how I’m feeling the poem “means” something different. 
    LikeReply 11 month ago
  • kazbrekker
    Ofc it's the top rated poem for a reason
    LikeReply 11 month ago
  • Shocam
    One of my favorite poems. Simple and yet so meaningful....
    LikeReply 11 month ago
  • qanitaamer5
    One of my favorites ❤️
    LikeReply2 months ago
  • akinpelupeter1
    Love this,it's such a nice poem
    LikeReply2 months ago
  • alvinl.62833
    This poem, like other great works, speaks of universal human experience and appeals to people.
    LikeReply2 months ago
  • Pruett1023
    Nice poem, I enjoyed reading it. Keep on writing and you'll keep on inspiring.
    LikeReply2 months ago
  • Emile
    Oh I love this one.
    LikeReply2 months ago
  • Ruthmahogany
    This poem, I first read in high school. It has somehow been the story of my life. Risk is a necessary part of life, play it safe and you will always feel like your life is not in your hands.
    LikeReply 22 months ago
  • kai_f
    A beautiful poem. It's quite a nice poem overall and I enjoyed reading it. Robert Frost is quite prolific for his writing.
    LikeReply2 months ago
  • JLane
    Risk taking is all part of life.
    LikeReply3 months ago
  • kenya_s
    It's true though!!! Life is about taking risks!
    LikeReply3 months ago
  • devparth9784
    Greate, mindblowing
    LikeReply3 months ago
  • MaliMis1986
    Absolutely beautiful poem!
    LikeReply3 months ago
  • Lacey,J
    a man i wouldn't mind meeting for a few words of advice. maybe in another world our paths will meet ..amazing poem sir
    LikeReply4 months ago
  • nwafor_a
    Nice poem. It shows how the heart chooses for ius. I read it over and over again.
    LikeReply4 months ago
  • nooshin
    this poem is magic!
    i've read it many times during my life... and found out we are at such fork many many times... in fact we live to choose...

    and the secret message is hidden in these lines:

    Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
    I doubted if I should ever come back.

    yes, we can never come back... we just go forward to face another fork... :)
     
    LikeReply 15 months ago
  • kem330
    I absolutely loved this. Two roads and taking one less traveled ...can infer so many variations of the true meaning inferred here. Very well written.
    LikeReply5 months ago
  • Caroline_courtney
    Great poem!!
    LikeReply5 months ago
  • Davismatt926
    Great
    LikeReply5 months ago
  • fran_c
    Robert Frost was John F. Kennedy's favorite poet and 'spoke' this one, among others, at his inauguration in 1961.
    LikeReply 110 months ago
    • WilliamMorrisThurstonThe3rd
      "Yes indeed, Mr. Robert Frost is one of my favorites as well, and also a very large percentage of my inspiration!"
      LikeReply6 months ago
    • DSHERIDAN1
      Yes! John F. Kennedy quoted the last speech delivered in October 1963 to honor poet Robert Frost and said, “when power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truths, which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.” I keep this on my laptop. This is deep. 
      LikeReply1 month ago
  • carolb.62305
    Im so very happy that you've brought this site back..!!!
    LikeReply 11 year ago
  • Blindlove4you29
    Just as two roads separate in the forest create a difference, in the same way body and soul separate and create a difference in life.
    LikeReply 11 year ago
  • Lebutler50
    I thought it was informative on our life choices. It is better to experience life than to say you never attempted it and never grow.
    LikeReply1 year ago
  • vandhana_k
    Spend my worries on potery newspaper.
    LikeReply1 year ago
  • yomihabib
    It need more imageries.The poem is flat to understand.What message are you trying to convey to the readers.Nice work
    LikeReply1 year ago
  • jerrywlawrence2666
    A Classic. A Timeless Tale Of Choices, My Friendz.
    LikeReply 11 year ago
  • author177
    Reminds me that even the seemingly insignificant ones can shape our destiny in unexpected ways. Nice read
    LikeReply 21 year ago
  • cokerrogers
    Beautiful poem Robert . I’m looking forward to hearing new ones from you.
    LikeReply 11 year ago
  • JoeStrickland
    Classic Frost
    LikeReply 31 year ago
  • Philipo
    The road less traveled. The hard way, the only way. That movie in the 80s educated us in it's unique way.
    LikeReply 11 year ago
  • dougb.19255
    I am so tired of people applying the word iconic. It has lost all specificity. It attempts to picture the best of the best. But it has lost the salt of its blessing through sloppy usage.
    LikeReply 21 year ago
  • luisestable1
    Many things could be said about this famous poem. First, it is written in tetrameters, and the foot is the iambic one. The rhyme-scheme is 1, 2, 1, 1, 2.
    About what the poem tells one could say that Frost is very tricky here. This poem is more than making the right decisions in life. The speaker sees two roads and takes the one less traveled by. Why is it less traveled? The poem does not say. Only that the speaker takes it for he thinks it wants wear. And he laments he cannot travel both. Thus he takes the more appealing, to him, road and he says that made all the difference.
    There is much hidden meaning in these verses And it is a mistake to think that this poem is only about making the right choices in life or having the smart to make the right choices in life. There is more than that in the poem. But that is the popular understanding of this very famous poem by Frost. 
    LikeReply 21 year ago
  • dougb.72572
    Frost has one about a farm home with adjacent fruit stand outside a large city. Occasionally slickers stop to ask for car fuel. They pay little attention to the produce, the fruit of honest labour. These are dumb, boring farm folk? Not so. 
    LikeReply1 year ago
  • Tewabe
    ''Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference.' I got everything here in some lines of Frost's poems. thank you .
    LikeReply 32 years ago

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"The Road Not Taken" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Oct. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/30928/the-road-not-taken>.

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