Robert Frost’ poem, “The Road Not Taken” was published in 1916 in his collection “Mountain Interval”. The poem is a great example of the decision-making process and its influence on humans’ life. Robert Frost shows the reader with an easiness and lightness endemic to his works about the things which are drastic to the well-being of our life.
This poem captured my attention, first of all, due to its symbolic meaning which is hidden between the lines. People often have to make many decisions in their life. Actually each step, each word, and even each thought lead to certain decisions which determine the way people will live already the next day.
In the poem, the author feels sorry that he could not try to walk two roads that led to the yellow wood, as if talking about inability to live life twice or try to make the other choices again. The yellow woods sound to me like the future which is still unknown and mysterious, dark as a forest. Yellow color, in my opinion, can also mean the autumn which is the aging with each new decision he makes: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both…” (Frost, 1916).
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Then the author makes another decision and goes the other road which seemed better for him, however, when he walked it, he noticed that it was as worn as the other road. In my understanding, it means that whatever road we take, if we are not ready to work hard on our happiness, we will not be happy in any place we choose. Moreover, each of our steps must be well-reasoned, responsible, and contemplated so later on we will not regret the consequences of our actions: “…Though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same” (Frost, 1916).
A very interesting point is discussed in the fourth verse. Robert Frost depicts the problem which is common among the majority of people on our planet. This problem lies in the basis of a good number of our woes and sorrows, unfulfilled dreams and unsatisfied desires: “Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back” (Frost, 1916). These three lines show how people can break their lives being unable to go back and start everything from the beginning. I often here: I am too old, too fat, too unqualified, when people, in fact, are just too lazy and are afraid to risk in pursuit of their dreams. They lead lives which do not belong to them, which they would be happy to change, however, they do nothing for it.
Eventually, the author recognizes that the road he took was not so bad and changed his life, made a difference. However, the poem is still imbued with sadness which, as if, reflects the sorrows of the author that he did not take another path and the question remains: How will his life go when he took another way? “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference” (Frost, 1916). One more good lesson arises: If we do something, we should never regret for our decision – times goes by and there is no way back to the past. However, there is present, and what we do now, determines what will happen tomorrow. Moreover, we have already gained experience with our mistakes and successes, we observed other people stumble on their way.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the poem by Robert Frost “The Road Not Taken” is like a requiem for all our mistakes and wrong decisions, however, we should fall in despair. On contrary, we should be happy for priceless experience we got, and the ability to make better choices now. If we learn to find at least something positive in any negativity that we happen to encounter in our life, than we can be sure that happiness will be always follow us wherever we go.