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A classic poem about choosing between two paths in life and the consequences of that choice. Read the full text, analysis, and poem guide of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.
- The Road Not Taken
The Road Not Taken Related Authors Robert Frost Audio Poem...
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- The Road Not Taken
So the road he will later call less traveled is actually the road equally traveled. The two roads are interchangeable. Orr concluded by noting: "It is a poem about the necessity of choosing that somehow, like its author, never makes a choice itself—that instead repeatedly returns us to the same enigmatic, leaf-shadowed crossroads."
A classic poem about choosing between two paths in life and the consequences of that choice. Listen to the audio, read the full text, and learn more about the poet and his work.
Later in the poem, the speaker calls the road he chose “less traveled,” and it does initially strike him as slightly grassier, slightly less trafficked. As soon as he makes this claim, however, he doubles back, erasing the distinction even as he makes it: “Though as for that the passing there / Had worn them really about the same.”
- “The Road Not Taken” Summary.
- “The Road Not Taken” Themes. Choices and Uncertainty. See where this theme is active in the poem. Individualism and Nonconformity.
- Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Road Not Taken” Lines 1-3. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both. And be one traveler,
- “The Road Not Taken” Symbols. Diverging Roads. See where this symbol appears in the poem. The Road Less Traveled.
The image of stepped-on leaves turning black represents the notion that the road less traveled is preferable. Taking the final couplet into consideration as well, the poem is commonly read as a testament to the unconventionally lived life.
Learn about the poem's context, structure, themes, and interpretation. Explore how the speaker's choice and regret shape their reality and memory, and how the poem relates to the road less traveled.
