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READ THIS
The poem celebrates personal choice, individualism and independence. It implies that once one has
decided on a road, there is no turning back.
The literal interpretation is based on walks which Frost enjoyed in the forest with his friend and fellow poet,
Edward Thomas. Thomas often complained they should have taken a different path.
ABOUT THE POET
Robert Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874. At the age of 11, he moved to New England, and it
would be there that he would attain his rural poetic flair.
He attended Harvard University, where he married Elinor White. His grandfather bought them a farm
where they would stay for some nine years and where he would work early in the mornings writing many
of the poems which made him famous.
In 1912, Frost moved to England where he would flesh out his poetic ability and come under the influence
of several English poets -- and also of the American, Ezra Pound.
In 1915, soon after the Great War began, Frost and his wife returned to America and bought a farm in
New Hampshire. There the poet spent much of his time writing and teaching. From 1916 through to 1938
he lectured English at Amherst College.
Frost was already 86 when John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as President of the United States of
America. The poet was invited to attend and to speak at the function. It was the final moment of an
illustrious life. Two years later -- in January 1963 -- he died from blood clots to his lungs.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood."
- Comment on the MOOD and TONE conveyed by the description of the wood as
"yellow". (6)
[Need help?]
The colour refers to the changing colour of the leaves in autumn. The connotation of autumn is that the
year is coming to an end.
This creates a nostalgic and reflective mood which is relevant to the theme of the poem: having to make
decisions and looking back on the consequences of those decisions.
There is also the nostalgic aspect of looking back on decisions which have been decided against and
wondering what the consequences could potentially have been if other choices had been made.
The tone is also reflective and nostalgic in harmony with the mood which has been created. The poet is
reflecting on the decision he had to make and is nostalgic for the path he was unable to take.
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"And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth."
- The poet displays a very human quality here with respect to our desire to know more about the future.
Explain what makes this statement so universal. (4)
[Need help?]
Consider how many people consult fortune tellers. Soothsayers and people who are able to predict the
future have been big business since the beginning of time.
We would all like to know what awaits us in the future. If we know what the future holds, we will all be able
to make more informed decisions.
Foresight is so much better than hindsight. We will be able to base our decisions on knowledge instead
of ignorance. "as far as I could" illustrates our desire to know as much as possible about our
future.
One can imagine the poet standing on his toes and stretching his neck, peering along the path, trying to
get a clearer view of the road and thus of his future. We would all like to be afforded the opportunity to
take a quick sneak at what lies waiting for us.
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- Refer to the words: "To where it bent in the undergrowth" Comment on the point the poet is
making about the future. (2)
[Need help?]
The fact that the road bends (turns) makes it clear that the future is unknown and cannot be predicted or
forecast. The future is obscured from our vision.
The poet makes it clear that decisions have to be based on the present, not on a prediction of an
undisclosed future.
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- These lines appear to contain a contradiction. The poet says that the paths were equally "fair";
yet he also says that one path had the "the better claim,". Identify the figure of
speech. (1)
[Need help?]
This is an example of ANTITHESIS which means there is an apparent contradiction.
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- Explain why you have identified this particular figure of speech. (2)
[Need help?]
The lines contain an apparent contradiction. The poet says that both paths are equally appealing; yet one
has "the better claim".
It is clear that one path is definitely more appealing and attractive than the other in spite of the poet's claim
that one path is "just as fair" as the other. One path affects his decision more than the other.
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"Oh, I kept the first for another day!"
- The poet has decided to use an exclamation mark at the end of this line. Account for his use of the
exclamation mark. (4)
[Need help?]
The exclamation mark emphasises the poet's regret. His intention was to return to the fork in the road
and travel along the other path as well, but life does not allow us this luxury. He actually knows that he
will never be able to return to that particular fork in the road.
Once we have decided on a particular path in our lives, we have to continue going forward. Once we have
made a decision, that decision takes us to other crossroads and other decisions which take us further
away from the original fork in the road.
We are never able to retrace our steps and go back into the past to change decisions we have made.
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- Identify the poet's TONE in this quotation. Explain the reason for your decision. (4)
[Need help?]
The poet feels regret, remorse, nostalgia.
He wishes he could go back to the original decision but he realises that life does not work that way. We
are not able to go back and change our decisions.
Once a decision has been made, we have to stick with it and face the consequences of that decision. We
have to realise that we need to look to the future, not the past.
Being nostalgic and regretting past decisions is pointless and futile. Nostalgia is simply a longing for
something that might have been.
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"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."
- The poet has contradictory feelings about his decision to take a particular path. Identify these
ambivalent feelings as presented in this stanza, explaining the reason for your choice. (4)
[Need help?]
The poet says: "I shall be telling this with a sigh". This is a sigh of regret.
He would have loved to have been able to travel along the other path to see where it would take him and
how it could have influenced his life.
The path was also attractive to him. It was difficult for him to make the decision and exclude one of the
paths.
"And that has made all the difference" makes it clear that he is satisfied with his decision. He feels
the decision has made a difference in his life.
Although he regrets not being able to take the other path, he is still happy with his choice and its positive
affect on his life. If he had not travelled that path (made that particular decision), his life would never have
turned out the way it did -- and that would have been something else to regret.
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" and I --
I took the one less traveled by"
- Explain what this line implies about the poet's decision. (3)
[Need help?]
The poet exercised freedom of choice. He was able to make an independent decision without conforming.
The fact that the road was "less traveled" indicates that fewer people had travelled along that road.
The other road would have been the easier choice, but he made the less popular and unconventional
choice.
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- The poet repeats the word "I". Account for his use of repetition. (2)
[Need help?]
The repetition conveys his firm intention. It emphasises that this is his individual, personal decision.
The pronoun "I" sets him apart from others. It sets him apart as a non-conformist and independent
thinker. He has not done what everyone else has done.
It also emphasises himself in the singular -- his decision was not determined or influenced by a group.
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