Commentary for 'The Road Not Taken'

Robert Frost (1874 -1963)

The Road Not Taken

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.

The main character of The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, goes through a series of decision making. Santiago, the main character, chose to become a shepherd rather than a priest, chose to travel to the Pyramids rather than staying in Spain. The Road Not Taken, a poem written by Robert Frost is also about making decisions.

The poem, written from present point of time, is about choosing between two diverged roads when literally translated. Choosing what road to take is a metaphor of making decisions in life. The author presents his viewpoint that people always hesitate when making decisions, but should be responsible for their determination and should not regret once the decision is made. The vacillation of people is shown in the first three stanzas and the attitude of people that Frost believe as proper is displayed in the last stanza.

Among the four stanzas, I shall focus on the third and the forth stanza. The third line of the third stanza, “Oh, I kept the first for another day!” represents the tendency of people to think that they can go back someday for the other choice. The following lines in the same stanza suggest that yet we cannot take both paths perhaps because our lives are too short. After talking about the current situation which is not long after taking one of the roads, the author turns to the future in the last stanza. The word ‘sigh’ in the first line is an estimate that he would feel lingering attachment to the road he did not take. Although he would feel slight sorry, the following lines shows the narrator’s determination that he would not regret and shall be able to tell boldly to other people that the decision he chose gave him great changes.