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The road not taken. By Robert Frost. "Road at Chantilly" by Paul Cézanne. The road not taken by Robert Frost. 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;
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The road not taken By Robert Frost "Road at Chantilly" by Paul Cézanne
The road not taken by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fairAnd having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that, the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,
The road not taken And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden blackOh, 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 sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveledby,And that has made all the difference.
I chose this poem because... • I wanted a traditional poem by a famous poet. • “the road less travelled” is a common quote and I wondered if this was where the saying came from • The image that was presented with the poem attracted my attention. It related to the yellow wood where we usually think of a wood as green.
Robert Frost • Robert Lee Frost 1874-1963 • American poet and playwright • 4 Pulitzer Prizes for poetry • Written hundreds of poems • Published collections of poetry • Difficult family life
The theme • Choices we make in life • By choosing the “less travelled” road our life will be more fulfilled • Be adventurous and get the most out of life.
The form (how are the lines and stanzas organised?) • 4 stanzas • 5 lines in each • Rhyming pattern as follows Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, AAnd sorry I could not travel both BAnd be one traveller, long I stood A And looked down one as far as I could ATo where it bent in the undergrowth; B
Tone • Is somewhat gloomy • Uses words like “sorry” and “sigh” • The traveller has regrets that he can’t follow both roads, even though he would like to. • Ends on a more positive not “and that has made all the difference”.
Imagery • The road “wanting wear” Can a road really want people to travel on it? This is personification – a inanimate object behaving like a person.
Literary Devices • Then took the other, as just as fairAnd having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that, the passing thereHad worn them really about the same, • I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere 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.
What is the message for the reader? • Robert Frost on his own poetry:"One stanza of 'The Road Not Taken' was written while I was sitting on a sofa in the middle of England: Was found three or four years later, and I couldn't bear not to finish it. I wasn't thinking about myself there, but about a friend who had gone off to war, a person who, whichever road he went, would be sorry he didn't go the other. He was hard on himself that way." Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, 23 Aug. 1953
Robert Frost’s definition of poetry • "All poetry is a reproduction of the tones of actual speech.“ • "A poem begins with a lump in the throat; a home-sickness or a love-sickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfilment. A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found the words."
