“The Road Not Taken” by Frost: A Poem Review Essay

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The poem “The road not taken” by Frost was written in 1916. The beginning of the 20th century is a time for the world to search for new ways of development, so the poem makes sense of choice (Frost, 89). The lyrical hero is probably already at a crossroads in adulthood and cannot choose which of the two paths to go forward. Finally, he makes a choice in favor of the path that seems to him less well-traveled and difficult. Like the main character, I also chose the most difficult path when choosing a profession.

Frost uses epithets in his poem (“in a yellow wood”), comparison (two roads are compared), personification (“where it bent in the undergrowth”), but in small quantities (Frost, 40). There are no specific comparisons in the author’s text, there is only a detailed comparison of two roads. If the road is considered by him as a means for moving in space, then the path, in addition to the named meaning, also has a philosophical meaning – the way of life. In my opinion, the author used a minimal amount of artistic and visual means in order not to romanticize the choice of the hero. I know from my own experience that the choice of a more difficult path does not happen unconditionally and firmly, as it is most often depicted in literature. Just like the hero of the poem, I was tormented for a long time by doubts about which profession should still be chosen.

Unlike romantics, Frost is alien to confessional lyrics, which conveys insights and catastrophes experienced by the poet. He seeks to talk not about the conflict of the lyrical hero and the surrounding world, not about the tension of these relations, but about attempts to build them as harmonious — contrary to the objective logic of social life. Ultimately, the impossibility of such harmony is revealed, and realizing this, the hero of Frost’s lyrics experiences bitterness, and sometimes suffering, which, however, never develops into a feeling of loneliness and abandonment of God (Frost, 30). Just as the hero of the poem chose his path alone, I also chose it completely on my own. I would like to hear someone’s advice, however, like a hero who found himself at a crossroads alone, I also had no one to tell me which choice of profession would be right for me. In the poem, nature, and especially the earth, which generates rivers and lakes, plains and gorges, trees and ears, the whole tangible world, comes to the fore. Like the hero, making a difficult choice for myself, I also tried to focus on the inner, intuitive feeling that nature symbolizes in the poem.

It is for the reason that it will be more difficult to walk along one of the roads, and a choice is made. Therefore, one can say that the main idea of the poem is as follows. A person should always choose the most difficult path, as this makes him more experienced, tests his human qualities, makes it possible to understand the forces, abilities and purpose of life. In this way, a person is given the opportunity to experience and know himself. I felt it by my own example and I can confidently agree with the author that the strongest personal growth occurred for me during the exit from the comfort zone.

Work Cited

Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken: The Classic Poem in Words and Photographs. Cider Mill Press, 2019.

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