by Dolores Moore

Created on: February 12, 2008   Last Updated: September 05, 2009

The Road not Taken, by Robert Frost, (1916)

In 1996, the BBC asked people to vote on their favorite poem of all time. In the compiled book which resulted, 'The Nation's Favourite Poems', containing the top 100 poems voted for, it was interesting to note that Frost's poem came in at 47. An American voice, a rural setting and still it entered that prestigious roll call. I am not surprised, as it is a magnificent poem, containing great universal truth about the nature of just being alive. This is a poignant, breath-stopper of a poem, a reflection on the past and a lesson for the future. Frost's language works on so many levels, as he offers the deepest insights into the human dilemma of making the right decisions in life. Most important, this poem portrays the inevitability of consequence, that whatever way we choose, we can never go back.

The poem is written in a rhythm pattern of iambic pentameter, with four stanzas of five lines. It appears full of simplicity and is easy to understand. But do not be deceived by this gentle, calm rhythm, there are vital and meaningful depths contained therein.

At first we see a man at a little country crossroads, where two paths converge, trying to make a decision on which one to take. The poet shared his thoughts on this completely. Now that might appear to be the whole crux of the matter, but we soon find ourselves within those deeper meanings as he continued. The colors he choose to paint the picture bring autumn to mind, along with the idea that this was a person in his middle to later years, looking back on his life. Frost showed the "...yellow wood" (l. 1), as the leaves are no longer green, and "in leaves no step had trodden black" (l. 12), we see and smell the earthy pungency of autumn, the fading of the year and the passing of years for the narrator.

Frost's was the voice of this poem, as he told us of every feeling, thought and action, gently laughing at himself with a little irony, as in: "I shall be telling this with a sigh/Somewhere ages and ages hence." (l. 16-17). So too, did he express his indecisiveness, along with the realization of how important it was to make the right choice. The enjambment in these lines depict the thoughts racing, "And sorry I could not travel both/And be one traveler..." (l. 2-3).

Then, as in the natural processes of thinking and rationalization, the poet slowed down, letting the reader see this with these words: "...and long I stood/And looked down one as far as I could" (l. 3-4). As

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