Analyzing Poetry: ''The Road Not Taken''

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Before beginning, take a look at the title of this poem: "The Road Not Taken."

• What is implied by this title?

It does not say less taken, or sometimes taken. It flat out says not taken. This places a lot of importance on the road that was not traveled on.

Keep this in mind as you read the poem below.

Now, make initial annotations about the poem using Annotate "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost found under the Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar.

• What keywords pop out at you?
• What imagery?
• Is there a noticeable attitude, mood, or tone?

Summarize each stanza to represent what you think is meant by it.

Now that you've read the poem, look back at the Robert Frost quote from the beginning of the lesson.

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on."

With this quote in mind, think about what the overall theme of this poem might be.

Now, listen to the poet himself read his poem to you.

To help analyze this poem, take a look at the first stanza.

Without knowing where each path leads (because of the undergrowth and the falling autumn leaves obscuring the path), the narrator laments over being just one traveler who cannot take both roads.

Now, look at the second stanza.

• What first impressions did you note about this stanza on your annotation sheet?

The narrator initially chooses to take the road that looks less worn, therefore "less traveled by."

Before deciding both paths are worn about the same, the narrator thinks there is one that is the "better claim" because it was "grassy and wanted wear."

In the third stanza, the narrator acknowledges that both paths were equal because "no steps had trodden [them] black."

The narrator continues with a declaration that one day they will return and walk the road not taken.

In the last stanza, the narrator shifts from looking ahead to looking back, recalling the supposed importance of the decision made so long ago.

The narrator appears to recount the experience in a positive, more impactful way by stating they took the road less traveled and that doing so made all the difference in their life.

Now, reflect on the poem as a whole.

• If the theme is "how we define our lives is our choice," then what can we say the narrator's choice was?

Notice that each stanza contradicts itself.

In the first, the narrator says each path "diverged in a yellow wood" but then says, "And looked down one as far as I could," implying the narrator could not entirely see for how long they diverged.

In the second stanza, the narrator finally decides on a path but ultimately decides either would be fine.

In the third stanza, the narrator swears they will come back to the other path (that was not chosen) another day. Yet, the narrator goes on to say they doubt that will happen.

In the last stanza, the narrator begins with a sigh looking back on the unimportant choice, the 50-50 chance, the either/or decision that was made "ages and ages" ago and decided to say that it did "make all the difference."

Ultimately, the narrator chooses to give life and their choices more meaning by stating that the decision in the yellow wood all those years ago "has made all the difference."

By adding meaning, the narrator has given more meaning to their life. That could be for their satisfaction, but it could also be to inspire whomever the narrator is telling the story to.

It's possible, now, to see how people have confused the meaning of this poem for so many years; if you don't do a close read and analyze what is truly being said, then you are likely to miss its true meaning.

With that in mind, head over to the Got It? section and try practicing some of your analyzing skills.