The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

Lyric

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;

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,

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.

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.

About this poem

The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is an iconic poem about making choices and taking risks in life. Written in 1916, the poem is set in a forest where the speaker finds himself at a fork in the road and must choose between two paths. The poem speaks to the idea of taking risks and forging your own path in life, and the overall message is that it is better to make your own decisions and be true to yourself, even though it might be hard. Through the use of metaphor and symbolism, Frost's poem is a timeless reminder of the importance of making conscious decisions and taking responsibility for our choices. more »

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified by acronimous on September 17, 2024

: 47 sec read
: 881,007 Views

Quick analysis:

Scheme	ABAAB CDCCD EFEEF GXGGX
Closest metre	Iambic pentameter
Characters	731
Words	159
Stanzas	4
Stanza Lengths	5, 5, 5, 5

Full analysis for The Road Not Taken »

Robert Frost

· 1874 · San Francisco, California

–

· 1963 · Boston

Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in America. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. more…

All Robert Frost poems | Robert Frost Books

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48 Comments

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mfortney2538
I love his work
LikeReply 124 days ago
_Depressed_Therian_
I love this poem, I had to read it for an assignment, which only made me like it more!
LikeReply28 days ago
jonsaviours
Pave your own path, the reward might not be instantaneous but it's always worth it.
LikeReply29 days ago
sharona.reeves81
He's an influencer of mine! Him and Langston Hughes can tell a poetic story that leaves a residue of wonder in your heart and soul.
LikeReply1 month ago
Komael
I am really into it ..i got a life lesson
LikeReply1 month ago
RickthePoetWarrior
The effect of the first line of the last stanza is so perfect. Every reader will feel the emotion of the poem and is prepped for his closing argument. It echoes the 'yellow wood' from line one. It explains the previous dialogue. 'Ages and ages' for timing effect. It's the only two line sentence re-inforces the 'aging'. Frost was brilliant. more »
LikeReply 11 month ago
- jonsaviours
  exactly, you can't miss it.
  LikeReply29 days ago
jspaid1111
As an English teacher, and I'm also indebeted to a college Englis professor I had for this understanding, a closer reading of this poem reveals it not to actually be about any "choices" in life, but rather about how we misrepresent those choices to ourselves and others through the psychological mechanism of denial. In the second stanza of the poem Frost acutally tells us that the paths are just the same. He says that he "took the other, as just as fair", in other words he choose the other path in the woods, but the one he didn't choose was "just as fair", or just as beautiful or good. And then at the end of the stanza he says that the walking upon them has "worn them really about the same". He makes it clear that the paths are practically identical, but in the last stanza of the poem he says that he will later tell people that "I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference". This is in fact a lie, but it's a lie of deception to himself, first and foremost, as the phrase "that has made all the difference" shows us that he wants to seem to himself--and yes in the eyes of others as well--to have made a brave, courageous choice in life that most others would be unable to make. And of course we all do this to some extent, where we tell the stories of our lives, to others and even to ourselves, in slightly positively exaggerated ways to make ourselves, and perhaps life itself, a little more interesting, a little more exciting, a little more meaningful. Frost understood human nature intensely, which of course is what made him such a powerful poet, and here as in so many of his poems he uses the simple device of a quiet walk in the woods to mirror our deepest urges and motivations back to ourselves. more »
LikeReply2 months ago
apehoward1995
The path less taken is always full of mystery and new adventure. If we're could take both we wouldn't discover anything fore it would all already be taken.
LikeReply2 months ago
gumawajustinryan999
New here.
LikeReply2 months ago
gumawajustinryan999
New writer here please read mine too
LikeReply2 months ago
nelzealoursmotoe1
{And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler}
And no one can simultaneously travel both and be one traveler. Lovely expressed!
LikeReply2 months ago
DSHERIDAN1
I love his poems. The Road Not Taken was one of my favorite poems by him.
LikeReply2 months ago
Waiganjo
With a sigh I looked back, unlike him knowing I picked the wrong one
LikeReply3 months ago
Noddy
Frost does revel in ambiguity, language that like that fork in the road, can be taken at least two ways. That’s why I always find his final verse so intriguing. What’s with that sigh? What kind of sigh? And he knows already he’ll be telling exactly what ages and ages hence? And what kind of difference has the choice he made back then had on his life? Does the sigh mean he wishes he hadn’t made the choice that made all the difference? I don’t know.
But I’ve read myself into the poem at various times, high and low, in my life, and depending on how I’m feeling the poem “means” something different. more »
LikeReply 13 months ago
kazbrekker
Ofc it's the top rated poem for a reason
LikeReply 13 months ago
Shocam
One of my favorite poems. Simple and yet so meaningful....
LikeReply 13 months ago
qanitaamer5
One of my favorites ❤️
LikeReply3 months ago
akinpelupeter1
Love this,it's such a nice poem
LikeReply3 months ago
alvinl.62833
This poem, like other great works, speaks of universal human experience and appeals to people.
LikeReply3 months ago
Pruett1023
Nice poem, I enjoyed reading it. Keep on writing and you'll keep on inspiring.
LikeReply3 months ago
- krystynmaynard
  Can you vote on my poem Ice Glacier?
  LikeReply 13 months ago
- Pruett1023
  sure I will!
  LikeReply3 months ago
Emile
Oh I love this one.
LikeReply4 months ago
Ruthmahogany
This poem, I first read in high school. It has somehow been the story of my life. Risk is a necessary part of life, play it safe and you will always feel like your life is not in your hands.
LikeReply 24 months ago
- nooshin
  LikeReply 14 months ago
kai_f
A beautiful poem. It's quite a nice poem overall and I enjoyed reading it. Robert Frost is quite prolific for his writing.
LikeReply4 months ago
JLane
Risk taking is all part of life.
LikeReply4 months ago
kenya_s
It's true though!!! Life is about taking risks!
LikeReply4 months ago
devparth9784
Greate, mindblowing
LikeReply5 months ago
MaliMis1986
Absolutely beautiful poem!
LikeReply5 months ago
Lacey,J
a man i wouldn't mind meeting for a few words of advice. maybe in another world our paths will meet ..amazing poem sir
LikeReply6 months ago
nwafor_a
Nice poem. It shows how the heart chooses for ius. I read it over and over again.
LikeReply6 months ago
nooshin
this poem is magic!
i've read it many times during my life... and found out we are at such fork many many times... in fact we live to choose...

and the secret message is hidden in these lines:

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

yes, we can never come back... we just go forward to face another fork... :) more »
LikeReply 16 months ago
kem330
I absolutely loved this. Two roads and taking one less traveled ...can infer so many variations of the true meaning inferred here. Very well written.
LikeReply7 months ago
Caroline_courtney
Great poem!!
LikeReply7 months ago
Davismatt926
Great
LikeReply7 months ago
fran_c
Robert Frost was John F. Kennedy's favorite poet and 'spoke' this one, among others, at his inauguration in 1961.
LikeReply 11 year ago
- WilliamMorrisThurstonThe3rd
  "Yes indeed, Mr. Robert Frost is one of my favorites as well, and also a very large percentage of my inspiration!"
  LikeReply8 months ago
- DSHERIDAN1
  Yes! John F. Kennedy quoted the last speech delivered in October 1963 to honor poet Robert Frost and said, “when power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truths, which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.” I keep this on my laptop. This is deep. more »
  LikeReply2 months ago
carolb.62305
Im so very happy that you've brought this site back..!!!
LikeReply 11 year ago
Blindlove4you29
Just as two roads separate in the forest create a difference, in the same way body and soul separate and create a difference in life.
LikeReply 11 year ago
Lebutler50
I thought it was informative on our life choices. It is better to experience life than to say you never attempted it and never grow.
LikeReply1 year ago
vandhana_k
Spend my worries on potery newspaper.
LikeReply1 year ago
yomihabib
It need more imageries.The poem is flat to understand.What message are you trying to convey to the readers.Nice work
LikeReply1 year ago
jerrywlawrence2666
A Classic. A Timeless Tale Of Choices, My Friendz.
LikeReply 11 year ago
author177
Reminds me that even the seemingly insignificant ones can shape our destiny in unexpected ways. Nice read
LikeReply 21 year ago
cokerrogers
Beautiful poem Robert . I’m looking forward to hearing new ones from you.
LikeReply 11 year ago
JoeStrickland
Classic Frost
LikeReply 31 year ago
Philipo
The road less traveled. The hard way, the only way. That movie in the 80s educated us in it's unique way.
LikeReply 11 year ago
dougb.19255
I am so tired of people applying the word iconic. It has lost all specificity. It attempts to picture the best of the best. But it has lost the salt of its blessing through sloppy usage.
LikeReply 21 year ago
luisestable1
Many things could be said about this famous poem. First, it is written in tetrameters, and the foot is the iambic one. The rhyme-scheme is 1, 2, 1, 1, 2.
About what the poem tells one could say that Frost is very tricky here. This poem is more than making the right decisions in life. The speaker sees two roads and takes the one less traveled by. Why is it less traveled? The poem does not say. Only that the speaker takes it for he thinks it wants wear. And he laments he cannot travel both. Thus he takes the more appealing, to him, road and he says that made all the difference.
There is much hidden meaning in these verses And it is a mistake to think that this poem is only about making the right choices in life or having the smart to make the right choices in life. There is more than that in the poem. But that is the popular understanding of this very famous poem by Frost. more »
LikeReply 21 year ago
dougb.72572
Frost has one about a farm home with adjacent fruit stand outside a large city. Occasionally slickers stop to ask for car fuel. They pay little attention to the produce, the fruit of honest labour. These are dumb, boring farm folk? Not so. more »
LikeReply1 year ago
Tewabe
''Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.' I got everything here in some lines of Frost's poems. thank you .
LikeReply 32 years ago

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