Robert Frost

’s “The Road Not Taken” Essay, Research Paper

?Robert Frost was one of the United States’ best-loved poets. Frost

was greatly influenced by his move from San Francisco to New England at

the age of 11, his move to England when he was 37, and then his return to

New Hampshire a couple of years later? (Knowledge Adventure 2). Robert

Frost?s inspiration for his poetry came from within himself. His decisions

concerning which direction his life would take can be seen in one of his

most acclaimed poems ? The Road Not Taken?. Ultimately he realized, as

is expressed in his works, that the road one chooses to take is what builds

and defines one?s character. It is a life-long decision that one cannot

change further down the great road of life.

The first two lines of his poem is ?Two roads diverged in a yellow

wood, and sorry I could not travel both? (Frost 815). In the first two lines,

Robert is standing at the crossroads in life; he wishes that he could go both

ways, but in life, you must choose one. He looked down both roads as far

as he could see. He wanted to see where the roads led to. One of the

roads was well-traveled (the common road that most people take in life),

and the other road looked as though no one liked to travel it. Frost took the

one that wasn?t traveled as much; choosing his own path in life versus the

mainstream (Knowledge Adventure). This is a remarkable move by Frost,

because he could be an average poet with an easy life, however he

chooses the harder road through life.

Lines eleven through fourteen state, ?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? (Frost 816). These lines suggest that he had to choose one morning,

of which direction he should lead his life. That morning, his decisions were

tough; both of the roads had no footprints, as leading people to believe that

no one had traveled the road before. Frost wishes that he could take both

paths in life, but one knows that the first path leads to another and then to

another; life is always moving forward. He knows that he would never get

to go back in life and take the road he left behind, and this is why he

chooses the less traveled road. He sees where most people are at in life

and that they probably followed the mainstream and took the easy road.

This is where he decides that he wants to better himself, and not follow the

norm. This is why he took the harder of the two roads.

The last five lines of the poem are very significant. Frost writes, ?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? (Frost 816). Frost says that he will be telling

this story in the future. The lines also offer the proof that Frost is very sat?

isfied with the road or the choice in life that he has made. The last two

lines, however sting. The majority of the people in life took the easy road,

and in those last lines he directly states that he only prospered well and

made a life for himself because he took the harder road, or the rougher

choice, and that choice has brought him to where he is today.

So in retrospect, when one looks back on his/her life, the road less

traveled is actually the road best traveled. You enjoy life more if you take

chances and not always follow the mainstream. From the beginning of the

poem, Frost knew what road he would take; but everyone is drawn to the

easy road. He had a tough struggle deciding which one he wanted to take:

road number one–easy life versus road number two–tougher life, but no

idea where it leads. It wasn?t hard for him to decide which road he wanted

to take, so he followed his instincts, and his choices in life is what brought

him worldwide recognition.