"The Road Less Taken" by Robert Frost

Francesco Nino Vetrone
Liceo classico E. Duni
National Poetry Month Project
2011

Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken"

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; 5

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, 10

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. 15

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. 20

As an Italian student of literature, in the third year of Liceo Classico, the first comparison that comes to mind, when reading this poem, is a possible link between Frost’s “wood” and Dante’s “forest” in the opening of the Inferno. Both, wood and forest, represent the intriguing mystery of life. At the same time, however, some diversities must be noted.

First of all, the use of a different colour: Dante’s forest is dark. The “forest dark” where Dante
found himself, “midway upon the journey of our life, for the straightforward pathway had been
lost.” Dante’s forest is also savage, rough and stern, capable of renewing feelings of fear at the
very thought of it. This dark colour fits in with the gloomy representation of the setting, with sinners and events of the past, from which Dante is willing to learn under the guidance of his Master Virgil.

Frost’s wood, however, is yellow. Yellow is the colour of nature showing itself in its less glorious state, usually at the end of summer. Autumn leaves are already withering and falling down and the “time” ahead is going to be a hard time to live. Unfortunately, the author has no Virgil at his side. With no guidance and no example offered, his own Future depends on the choices he is going to make. The forest of Dante’s Inferno is a dense scenario of past life. Frost’s wood is the unknown life ahead of each of us. Of course, other fellow humans on their journey to their final purpose, whatever this purpose is, have already experienced it through the wood. But, the people who went to the wood first, left no records of their actions. So he can’t learn from them. There are just little notable traces of their passing on the ground. Yet, a decision has to be taken: which way to go, left or right? (Virgil! where are you ?) And here, Frost is either playing around or indecisive. The two roads look almost the same (ln 9-10 ”the passing there / had worn them really about the same”). But just a line above, he writes that one of the roads was “grassy and wanted wear”. And then, again, the speaker says that the two roads “equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black”. Is this a metaphor representing the many faces of the same problem? Or is this simply sneering irony confirming the tricky horns of the dilemma we struggle with in everyday life? The most trodden road might be the right choice. So far, that road has been the choice of many and man likes to flock with those of his own kind. In the final lines, however, Frost informs us, “with a sigh”, that he “took the less travelled by / and that has made all the difference.”

Is this a metaphor for individualism and self-confidence or self-conceitedness? Or is it an
allegory to confirm people’s attitudes towards failure? What about considering the author’s
choice as a kind response to the road’s call for “being trodden”? A sort of personification by
which Frost makes “things” think, also letting them express their desires.

The “Road Not Taken” is a very good example for teaching the fun of reading, conversing ,
investigating and reflecting. Through a major metaphor (roads diverging represent time to decide and choose), an obvious allegory (walking the path through the wood stands for travelling the road of life through problems and difficulties), the author supplies us with enough concepts for us to think further.

There is at least a double-sided aspect concerning human behaviour and actions. Going one way
always leaves us with a doubt: what would have happened if we had gone the other way? In his
restless and stubborn search on the journey to the unknown final target, man’s thirst for knowledge is such that, even if just for a while, he feels sorry he is not free to travel both roads (which is an antithesis between restricted human and almighty divine natures as well as a metaphor for the need to be cautious and careful before making any decision). It takes Frost some time to make up his mind and go “the one less travelled by.” This passage can also be read as an exhortation that the author suggests to his readers: do not follow what society decides for you. Make your own decisions.

Nobody ever knows what could have happened by just going the other way. In the line “Yet knowing how way leads on to way,” Frost adds, “I doubted if I should ever come back.” This burning want for “knowledge” goes for eternity with man. At present, an example of this question “what would happen just if…” can be seen from movies like It’s a Wonderful Life (with James Stewart directed by Frank Capra) and Sliding Doors (with Gwyneth Paltrow, directed by Peter Howitt).

Both movies have two different timelines, showing two different story endings: jumping/not jumping from the bridge (Stewart) and catching/not catching the London Underground train (Paltrow).

Thus, we can say that "The Road Not Taken" is a mysterious poem through which Robert Frost is able to shock as well as fascinate the reader, thanks to imaginative paradoxes, tricky sentences and interpretative challenges. "The Road Not Taken" is the lyrical representation of the problems we meet when facing the "forks" along the pathway of our life.