So those who take the last three lines and think that they represent Frost's intention can be said to have “misunderstod” the poem. Exaggerate it, put on an act (“telling this with a sigh”), claim that his decision has always been to take the less-travelled road, and that this has made a difference. Years later, at parties and to grandchildren, he's going to make the difference seem larger than it was. Remember the original reason he picked the second road, because it was “perhaps” better, as it was “grassy and wanted wear”? The reason which, on closer examination, turned out to be flimsy as the difference was negligible? No matter he's going to stick to that story. What's more likely to happen is something else (I've added the quotation marks for clarity): “The next time I'm here, I'll take the other one” is what he tells himself, knowing fully well that there may not be a next time. And whenever we list pros-and-cons of any choice, taking one side of the matter and then the other, we are, in a sense, contradicting ourselves.) So there is already a fear of having picked the wrong one, which is assuaged with: (You could call this contradiction, but it's just that on closer examination the difference has vanished. Both roads are good perhaps the one he didn't take is good too. So, then again (“Though as for that”), the difference is not such a big one, possibly even non-existent. Immediately after making this decision on such flimsy grounds though, he is aware that: Why? Simply because it appears “perhaps” better, after looking at its grass and feeling that it needs walking on. He's considered one road and then decided to take the other one, which (“as just as fair”) is very similar. Of course, being a single person he can't travel both (what a delightfully absurd idea!), so he's having to make up his mind. In the very first line the author sets the context quickly: here he is, faced with two roads in a wood. In the context of the poem, though, it appears that the author may have intended (see questions on authorial-intent) something else (or something more), which becomes apparent if we read the poem closely, in its entirety and in order. (The rhyme, the repetition of the “I”, …) So those who wish to “borrow” the language of a poet to express this idea about themselves are certainly not doing anything “wrong”. Here we have a master poet who has cloaked this idea in creative language, and there are all sorts of subtle things that make the words memorable and charming. To use language is to give expression to ideas language begins to turn into poetry when the ideas are striking, or the form is striking, or both. And why not? They express an idea that is almost heroic: of doing the unconventional thing, being a maverick rather a conformist, of the virtue of individualism that has always resonated in America, of the satisfaction (or regret!) that your choice ended up making a difference. These lines, the last three lines of Frost's The Road Not Taken, have been endlessly quoted by many people: as epigraphs in their books, on their personal web pages, and so on. Simple though it may see, poetic imagery, repetition, and personification, make this poem what Frost called in a letter to anthologist Louis Untermeyer, “my best bid for remembrance.” Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eveningĭo you enjoy Robert Frost poetry? You may read “Two Tramps in Mud Time” in the April Poems post (just scroll down).Quotes have a way of taking on a life of their own. Robert Frost’s 1922 poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” was first published in 1923 in his New Hampshire volume of poetry. “The Road Not Taken” was first published in Mountain Interval (New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1916), and has been extensively anthologized ever since.
There’s something of regret in it, too, and perhaps even a bit of irony, if the narrator is intended to be someone who overthinks things. Although it’s sometimes taken as a poem that celebrates choosing an unusual path in life, it is more that. Like much of Robert Frost’s poetry, “The Road Not Taken” appears simple, but offers food for thought. EIL 4.3 Spenser, Gawain, and Arthurian Context.
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