Symbolically it was the choice the poet made which determined his destiny and made him a poet of distinction. So the personal experience of the poet acquires universal proportions. The problem of making a choice is a universal experience. Robert Frost deals with the basic problems and the basic facts of life. Q.1: Attempt a critical note on the theme of choice in ‘The Road Not Taken.’Īns:- The poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ depicts the confusion which prevails in modern life. Infact, he has enlarged the quatrain to the 5 line stanzas to offer variety. In this poem, however, he has used 5 line stanzas with the rhyme scheme abaab, cdccd, dedde, efeef. The verses are composed usually of brief forms such as the quatrain (4-line stanza). His poems are usually short, seldom running over from one page to another. Robert Frost is known as a poet of “simplicity”. In this poem, we can easily realize the situation in which a traveller is faced with the dilemma about selecting either of the two roads lying before him in a yellow wood. One of Frost’s favourite modes is the dramatic mode in which a situation is depicted. He allows the situation to speak for itself and allows the deeper meaning to emerge naturally. But Frost has not dealt with the problem philosophically. The central metaphor clearly suggests the external human problem of choices. The metaphor of two roads represents the two possibilities of where only one could be entertained at a time. Added to that, the poet has also made a clever use of natural imagery. The most significant poetic technique applied here is that of symbolism. The Road Not Taken depicts the confusion that prevails in modern life. The poet took ‘less Travelled’ road and that has made all the difference. Most of the people love materialistic life but very few people love spiritual life. Here, the poet suggests that timely and proper decisions have far-reaching and life long consequences in human life. It was the choice the poet made which determined his destiny. Then he was eminently successful as a poet. With his reputation established, he returned to America. His first volume of poems was published there and received high praise. For this purpose, he went to England with his family. He decided to make poetry his vocation in life. So he chose the path that was less travelled and this choice had “made all the difference.” It was in 1912, that Frost took an important decision in his life. He could not travel both roads at the same time. Once, travelling alone in the woods, the poet stood at a point where two roads diverged. Frost sought to romanticize this notion of ruminating over what might have been, and on his return to America in 1915, he incorporated this notion into the composition of a poem for his new volume of poetry. Such a thing happened regularly, and Frost took it as an occasion to jest at the expense of his friend’s ‘wasted regrets’. However, before the end of that walk, he would regret the choice he had made and wished that they had chosen the other available routes. The latter was seriously interested in acquainting his American friend with the rarities and specialties of the area and as such, always took a route that could serve his purpose. During his stay, he used to go for long walks into the countryside accompanied by Thomas. The inspiration for writing the poem came to Frost in 1914 when he was with his friend Edward Thomas in Gloucestershire, England. “ The Road Not Taken” is the opening poem in Robert Frost’s third collection of poems titled Mountain Interval, published in 1916.
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