‘The road not taken’ is a poem by Robert Frost. The main theme in the poem regards the decisions an individual makes and how they determine one’s future (Frost, 2010). Frost uses irony effectively to tell the story that the road one takes in life can either represent a right or wrong decision, but it ultimately counts. This paper will provide a literature review of the poem.
The speaker in the poem faces a dilemma while in the woods. Before him, lay two roads that were equally worn and both overlaid with un-trodden leaves. Both roads are almost equally worn out (Frost, 2010). The speaker understands that he cannot travel both and he thus chooses to travel on the grassy road. It was the one that appeared as less travelled by even though both roads were equally worn out. The speaker says that he will travel on the other road some other day (Frost, 2010). The speaker professes that someday he will prove his decision of choosing the road by accounting for the difference in his life.
The poem provides archetypal dilemma encountered by most people in life. Human beings get faced with decisions regarding choices on the day to day basis. Humans cannot tell of the impact of their choices or decisions beforehand. They rather remain hopeful that their choices and decisions are or got to be sound (Frost, 2010). The poem also gets highlighted by the ironic tone of the speaker. Irony gets depicted in the last stanza when the persona looks back at the choices he made from a time in the future. This puts more meaning to it than he had initially done. There was no difference between the roads as they were equal (Frost, 2010).
Reference
Frost, R. (2010). The Road Not Taken, Birches, and Other Poems. New York: Coyote Canyon
Press.
