In his ambiguous poem “The Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost speaks about life choices and how critical decisions shape one’s life in the long run, or, perhaps, forever. The poem has a rigid rhyme scheme of ABAAB with four stanzas each with five lines. The title captures the attention of the reader by arousing curiosity to find out about this road that is not taken, and ultimately, the poem addresses this issue by talking about the road and its implications in life. The speaker arrives at a junction on a road and he has to decide which route to take. However, the narrator does not know what lies ahead, thus any choice can be good or bad. The poet takes the reader through a journey of emotional turmoil trying to make the right decision because the path chosen defines the future and life’s destination. As such, if the wrong choice is made, the decision-maker has to live with the consequences therein. This understanding calls for careful consideration when making important decisions in life because once a choice has been made, there is no going back. Frost uses symbolism and metaphor to warn people about the importance of making the right choices in life.
The opening stanza introduces the reader to the inevitability of change and decision-making in life. The speaker in the poem is traveling down a road and comes to a junction with two roads diverging “in a yellow wood” (Line 1) and he stands there contemplating which road to take. The first line ends with a metaphor – “a yellow wood”, which hints that the setting of the poem is in the forest, most probably during the fall, a season of change or transition – the inevitability of life. The two diverging roads symbolize choices in life and Frost quickly adds that unfortunately, he “could not travel both” (Line 2), which is an expression of curiosity about life choices and, at the same time, regret that the speaker is limited in his decisions and the inability to know what lies ahead. Therefore, he stands at the junction and looks “down one as far as I could” (Line 3), which symbolizes the difficulty of preferring one decision over the other. This line also carries some level of procrastination because the speaker wants to see what lies ahead of each path before making a choice. Unfortunately, the roads “bent in the underground” (Line 4), an indication that there are no guarantees in life. The last line is a metaphor for human beings’ inability to foretell the future with certainty; hence, no matter which road is taken, there will be challenges.
The second stanza ushers the reader into the realm of decision-making in life. The narrator takes the other road, but it is “just as fair” (Line 6). This assertion underscores the need to consider one’s choices and realize that once a decision is made, there is no turning back. In Line 7, the speaker uses the word “perhaps” as a continuation of the theme of the uncertainty of life. The reader makes an informed guess that the speaker has taken the road less traveled because it is “grassy and wanted wear” (Line 8). This path symbolizes the hard decisions that people have to make in life. However, the metaphor of a less traveled road indicates that most people are unwilling to break away from the norms and the status quo. Nevertheless, the speaker is yet to decide because both roads are “worn…about the same” (Line 10). Procrastination is a common human character trait and the speaker in this poem is not spared from it, hence the indecision at the end of the second stanza.
In the opening of stanza three, the speaker recalls that both roads equally lay untraveled, and thus he took one path and saved the “first for another day” (Line 12). The narrator hopes to come back in the future and travel the other road perhaps to explore what lies ahead. However, he immediately realizes the futility of his thinking and regrets, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way/ I doubted if I should ever come back” (Lines 14-15). This realization symbolizes real-life occurrences. When a person makes a decision and settles on a certain path in life, it leads to another decision and on to another path, thus there is no coming back. The stanza also has subtle regret of the inability to travel both roads at the same time. In other words, in life, people have to choose one option over the other and stick to their choices no matter how the future turns out. It is a call to be prepared to live with the consequences of one’s decisions and take responsibility because what has been done cannot be undone. Such is life, the speaker is well aware of it, and as he closes the third stanza, he casts doubt on the possibility of ever revisiting his choices.
The last stanza throws the reader into confusion with an open-to-interpretation statement. Frost says, “I shall be telling this with a sigh” (Line 16). The use of the word “sigh” at this point is equally confusing and thought-provoking. It could be chosen to show the speaker’s failure to make the right choices – regret, disappointment, frustration, or contentment. Nostalgically, he posits, “Somewhere ages and ages hence” (Line 17). The alliteration used in this line emphasizes the long-term effects of decisions that people make in life – perhaps they endure for a lifetime. The speaker finally confirms that he “took the one less traveled by” (Line 19) and it “made all the difference” (Line 20). The metaphor of the road less traveled is used to encourage people to make unpopular decisions if they are convinced that they are the right ones. Every invention or discovery in life has resulted from people making unconventional decisions and choosing to travel the less trodden road.
In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, Frost takes the reader on a journey to unravel the complexities of life and the uncertainties of the future. Nevertheless, people have to make decisions, which ultimately shape their lives irredeemably. In the end, Frost makes his choice and decides to take the road less traveled and he realizes that he made the right decision. The poem uses metaphors and symbolism to resent the inability of human beings to predict the future with certainty. As such, individuals have to make decisions and be prepared to live with consequences thereafter. However, the inability to foretell the future should not paralyze people to live indecisively. As Frost finally finds out, the road less traveled can change everything and without trivializing the difficulties and emotional anguish involved in making such decisions, he encourages readers to gather one’s courage and make the right life decisions based on convictions and careful consideration.