Poetry Explication “The Road Not Taken”. Literature Essay

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Poetry Explication “The Road Not Taken”
The essence of understanding and deciphering choices in life remains critical in understanding its corresponding value and meaning among individuals. Because life itself is considered a continuous journey with different paths and roads, the uncertainties of these choices give individuals the ability to question its impact and outcome. “The Road Not Taken” largely focuses on life’s choices. In this poem, the narrator tries to exhibit that no matter what decisions we make, or what path we walk upon, it will affect our lives in the long run.
In the first stanza, the narrator provides an image of two paths in the woods. These two paths represent choices. On looking at the two roads, the narrator wishes he could take both, which is evident when he states that “and sorry I could not ravel both” (line 2). In the poem, the character is described as a single traveler, suggesting that the travel is being made by one individual. The character is described looking down the road and being unable to see its end: “looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth: (line 4 & 5). This shows that the character had to make a choice on which path he would take, despite not knowing what lay ahead.
In the second stanza, the narrator highlights the road the character chose to take. The narrator describes going forward with the other road because it was “grassy and wanted wear” (line 8). This shows that the chosen path was viewed as the path that was ‘less traveled’. The narrator then proceeds to state, “the passing there had worn them really about the same” (line 10). I believe the meaning behind this assertion is that although one might think that a choice is made less often than the other, in reality, there is no significant difference in the choices, they are probably the same.
John Savoie, in The New England Quarterly, captures Frost’s emotions through this poem. How can the narrator have chosen the path ‘less traveled’ when he admits that the two roads are ‘the same’ and ‘equal?’ The absence of distinction between the roads casts doubt upon the narrator’ sense of distinction in life (Savoie, 7), this perspective states that the narrator seems bewildered by what lay ahead, and this bewilderment can be equated to the uncertainty and doubt in the narrator’s life. I believe this can help explain why the poem’s title focuses on the road not taken; the narrator of the poem is fixed on the mystery of what could have been.
In the third stanza, the narrator describes the differences between the two roads. Initially, he thought that the chosen road was less travelled, but it turned out that it was hard to tell because both roads were covered in leaves that were untouched. In a regretful tone, the narrator states that he had wished to travel the other road on a different day “yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back” (line 14 & 15). Even though a particular choice has been made, the person ...