“The Road Not Taken” contains ambiguity, satire, irony, and contradictions. Even though it initially seems that it is solely based on the life of his poet friend, it soon becomes clear that it might just as easily be talking about the author. First-person narration in the poem suggests that Frost is the primary speaker. Frost employs an obscure and conflicting analysis to show how the character must choose which direction to travel in or how to live because of the inability to follow both tracks at once.
The poem’s opening stanza serves as the author’s starting point for using ambiguity to describe the choices one takes in life. He asserts, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood / And sorry I could not travel both” (Frost lines 1-2). The author expresses himself and justifies the choice using metaphors in the first two lines. Here, the yellow wood represents life while the roads stand for choice. The author was probably alluding to his decision to leave one location and settle in another.
The second line has a profound significance and a somber attitude. Frost most likely felt this way since he could not choose both options. In essence, this could be read as either remorseful or dreadful consequences for the future. Additionally, it can indicate what he will miss most when he departs his current location. Frost asserts, “And one be a traveler, long I stood” (Frost line 3). Essentially, this statement captures his uneasiness about what the prospect might contain in light of the decisions he had already taken. Generally, he made some choices based on how his life developed in his new nation. Therefore, it appears that his memory may have been revised in this way.
Finally, Frost’s word choice and diction are the most crucial aspects of his style. In the last stanza, he posits that “I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence (Frost lines 16-17). Words like “sigh” and “ages and ages” portrays his eventual relief and any audience can relate to them in everyday life. Essentially, it is clear from reading the poem that the author does not utilize a sophisticated or complex vocabulary. Instead, he uses straightforward language in conversations to make it simple for the reader to understand.
Work Cited
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.”Poetry Foundation.