Discuss the message The Road Not Taken

A close reading of the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost proves that it does not moralise about choice; it simply says that choice is inevitable, but you never know what your choice will mean until you have lived it. This poem is commonly overused at upper school graduations to attempt to deliver the miss-interpreted message of Seize the day to nearly emerging members of the adult community. This however is not the message that the Poet attempts to deliver. This poem more or less revolves around the topics of Reminiscence, Recollection and Regret. The first stanza contains elements of reminiscence which are displayed through the words of the poet. In this stanza, the speaker reminisces over a time he had once experienced. He describes how he had once been walking through a yellow wood, when abruptly he had stumbled upon a fork in his path Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. The speaker wants to try walking down both paths, but understands that this is out of the question, and so, rather than seizing the day, and making an unanalysed decision, the speaker attempts to look as far down one path as he can, attempting to pre-empt where it will take him. The speaker then recollects how he then turned his attention to the other path Then took the other, as just as fair,. It is in both the Second and Third stan zas, that this element of Recollection is displayed. It is clear that the speaker is older now than he was at the occurrence of the event, however it is clear that he is not an old man. The second stanza in the poem, describes the aspects of the second path that the speaker began to analyse. He describes the second path as looking better than the first, And having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear,. Then upon further analysis the speaker comes to the realisation that both paths seem identical Though as for that the passing there, had worn them really about the same,. The third stanz a then begins, with the speaker bemused. He is now stuck, at the realisation that both paths are virtually identical, and neither path has been worn any less. The fact that neither path is less worn can be identified by the first two lines in the third stanza And both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black. The speaker then goes onto say that someday he wants to return to the fork in the road, and explore the road not taken. However the speaker then woefully realizes that because one road leads to another, he will indefinitely be unable to return. This becomes evident in the last two lines in the third stanza, Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

The speaker then transverses into the emotion of regret, as the fourth stanza commences. This stanza is often where most people misinterpret the entire poem. The misinterpretation is often found to be formed by two simple words found in the stanza, the meaning of which is not entirely clear, unless carefully analysed and considered. This stanza reads 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 travelled by, And that has made all the difference. The first of the two tricky words located in fourth stanza is difference. The last line And that has made all the difference is commonly interoperated as the speaker saying so in a positive sense, as though his life has seen benefit as the result of choosing the path he had chosen. This however is not the case. In this case the speaker does not, in any way, give evidence as to either confirm a positive or negative impact on his life. The second word which people often misinterpret is Sigh. Due to the nature of people regarding the word difference to be spoken in a positive sense they also regard the speakers use of Sigh to be a sigh of relief, in such that they believe that the speaker considers his decision to take the path that he chose, has had a positive impact on his life. However the true meaning behind the word sigh, is unknown. A sigh can be either a sigh of relief or a sigh of regret or sorrow. As a result should the sigh be that of relief then clearly the difference has had a significant positive impact on the speakers life. That said, should the sigh be one of regret, then the road the speaker had taken would have had a negative impact on the speakers life. However the true meaning behind the sigh is not given, and so is left to speculation. It can be seen that even the speaker himself, does not yet know whether his decision to take one particular road will be beneficial to his future or not, as he has not yet lived long enough into the decision to gaze back and reflect upon his choice. These two words often lead readers to misinterpret the message behind this poem. This can be seen as the reason as to why this poem is so commonly used at graduation ceremonies to deliver the misinterpreted message seize the day. This however is not the message that the poet attempts to deliver in this poem. The message given revolves more around the idea that choice is inevitable, but you will never know what your choice will mean until you have lived it. However when you are older and look back at the decisions you made earlier in life, you will still, to some degree, regret making the decision, because you are left to ponder where the other path could have taken you, and what impact it could have had on your life.