CBSE Class 9 English The Road Not Taken Assignment

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, 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 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.
word-meanings
diverged: separated and took a different direction
yellow wood: a forest with decomposing leaves
undergrowth: dense growth of plants and bushes means the forest)
fair: As good as the other one,
claim: Better option
grassy: unused
wanted wear: had not been used
trodden means walked over.
sigh: deep breath
hence: here, in the future

SUMMARY
The poet talks about two roads in the poem, in fact the two roads are two alternative ways of life. Robert frost wants to tell that the choice we make in our lives have a far-reaching result. The poem presents a dilemma that every man faces in his life. One day while walking in a wooded area full of trees with yellow leaves, the poet comes to a fork in theplace and he has to decide which road he should take. He stands there for long and starts debating over the choice. He looks at the first road as far as he can see, till it bends in the undergrowth. It seemed to have been travelled by many people. Then he looked at the second road. It was grassy and less travelled. The poet is tempted to walk on it. He keeps on thinking for a long time and comes to a conclusion that he cannot walk on both. That is the irony of life. We cannot travel all the available roads no matter how much we may wish to. However, he decides to take the second path with the intention of walking on the first any other day in the future. At the same time he knows that the chances of his returning that way are very less. He also knows the manner in which one path leads on to the other. Finally the poet started moving on the second road. Then the poem shifts to the last stanza and the poet becomes completely philosophical and talks as if he has travelled for a long era and looks back at the choices that he made in life and theirconsequences. Now he feels that the life has been completely different. He feels that his life has been very different from the common people because he has always been tempted to take the path not generally followed by others. Here he advices to do something different also. It shows the poet as an adventurous man ready to take risks in life which everyone should be like.

Question and Answers

Question. Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?
Answer : The traveller finds himself standing on a fork in the path. He is in a problem as he must choose one path and is unable to decide which one to choose.

Discuss what these phrases mean to you.

Question. a yellow wood
Answer : ‘Yellow wood’ refers to the forest which has withering leaves as in the season of autumn. It represents a world full of aging people.

Question. it was grassy and wanted wear
Answer : It means that the path had a lot of grass on it. This means that it had not been walked over by many people. It had to be worn out by the steps of the people who walked on it.

Question. the passing there
Answer : It means that when he walked over the path that he had chosen.

Question. leaves no step had trodden black
Answer : It means that no one had walked over the leaves as they were still green. If they had been walked over, they would have turned black.

Question. how way leads on to way
Answer : It means that as we walk on a path, we come across more options and make choices further. We keep on walking ahead on that way.

3. Is there any difference between the two roads as the poet describes them
Question. in stanzas two and three?
Answer : The two paths were similar. In the beginning, the poet felt that one of them was grassy and had not been walked over by many people, but when he walked on it for some distance, he realized that it was like the other road.

Question. in the last two lines of the poem?
Answer : Here, again the poet talks of his initial decision when he thought that the roads were different and chose the one that had been walked over by a lesser number of people.

Extract Based Extra Questions

Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow in one or two lines.

A) “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;”

Question. Name the poem and the poet of these lines.
Answer : The above lines have been taken from the poem The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost.

Question. Why does the poet feel ‘sorry’?
Answer : The poet feels sorry that he can’t travel on both the roads diverging in the forest before him.

Question. Where do the two roads diverge in?
Answer : The two roads diverge in the wood where the leaves have turned yellow in the autumn.

Question. What is the mood of the poet in these lines?
Answer : The mood of the poet appears to be serious and pensive.

Question. What does the ‘yellow wood’ mean?
Answer : ‘Yellow wood’ means that the leaves have turned yellow because of the autumn season.

Question. Why does the poet stand long?
Answer : The poet stands long because he was in a dilemma about which road to take.

Question. What is the rhyme scheme of the stanza?
Answer : The rhyme scheme of the stanza is: ab aa b.

Question. What choice did the narrator have to make?
Answer : The narrator had to choose between the two roads.

Question. What does the narrator regret?
Answer : The narrator regrets the fact that he cannot travel on both the paths. He also regrets the fact that he cannot come back to the start once he makes a choice.

Question. What did the narrator see in the wood?
Answer : The narrator saw two paths diverging in the forest.

B)“Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,”

Question. How was the other road?
Answer : The other road was as fair and beautiful as the first one.

Question. Why did the second road present a better claim than the first?
Answer : The second road presented a better claim as it was still grassy and had not been used by many travellers.

Question. What is the rhyme-scheme of the given lines?
Answer : The rhyme-scheme of these lines is: ab, aa, b.

Question. What does the poet mean by ‘as just as fair’?
Answer :‘ As just as fair’ means that the second road was just as beautiful as the first one.

Question. How do you understand the expression ‘grassy and wanted wear’?
Answer : The second road was grassy and green with its grass was not crushed and worn by the steps of the travellers.

Question. In which sense were the two roads similar?
Answer : Both roads were similar in the sense that they both were appealing to the poet to travel on them.

Question. What does “other” refer to in the above lines?
Answer : In the above lines “other” refers to the road that was grassy and less travelled upon.

Question. Which road did the narrator choose?
Answer : The narrator chose the one that was grassy and less travelled upon.

Short Answer Type Important Extra Questions – (to be answered in about 40 words each)

Question. How does the poet resolve the dilemma? Which road does he choose and why?
Answer : The two roads represent two ways of life. They stand for two directions, two attitudes and even two careers in life. The dilemma is of making the right and the rewarding choice. Two roads diverge in different directions. They look equally beautiful and fair. The poet leaves the first road for another day. He opts for the road that was less travelled by and ‘wanted wear’. He opts for an option that is not very conventional, popular and risk-free.

Question. ‘The Road Not Taken’ is a metaphor of life. Justify this statement. Justify the title.
Answer : In ‘The Road Not Taken’, Frost uses the fork in the road as a metaphor for the choices we make in life. Thus,the two roads are, in fact, two alternative ways of life. They represent two directions and two options open to the poet.
He has made a choice. He has opted for the road which is ‘less travelled by’. He leaves the first ‘for another day’. It becomes impossible to come back on the road one has left. One’s choice makes ‘all the difference’ in one’s life.Hence, the title is appropriate and logical.

Question. Did the poet repent for making his choice? Give an example from the poem to prove your point.
Answer : The poet had freedom to make a choice. The two roads were, in fact, two alternatives in life that lay before him. The poet left the conventional and less risky way of life. He opted for the road that was less travelled by and ‘wanted wear’. He left the first road for another day. The choice he made brought all the difference in his life. He seemed to be unhappy for making his choice. ‘1 shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: ‘
But he couldn’t do anything now. His choice had altered the course of his life.

Question. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” What do the two roads indicate here? What was the poet’s dilemma?
Answer : The two roads indicate the choices or decisions one has to make in one’s life. The poet has presented the dilemma that one goes through while taking a decision regarding one’s future. The poet, too, is faced with the dilemma of which road to choose for the course of his travel.

Important Long Answer Type Extra Questions- to be answered in about 100 -150 words each

Question. Bring out the symbolism in the poem “The Road Not taken”.
Answer : The poem is about something more than the choice of paths in a wood. We can interpret the narrator’s choice of a road as a symbol for any choice in life between alternatives that appear almost equally attractive. It is only after the passage of years, that we can really evaluate the decisions and choices that we make based on the result of these choices. If we find success, the choice is the right one but if the result is failure and pain then the choice has obviously not been the right one.

Question. Do you think people should regret their choices or decisions once they have been made? Why not?
Answer : Robert Frost’s choice shows that he is an adventurous individual who doesn’t like to take up the trodden paths. He studies the situation and takes his time to reach his own conclusions. Not afraid of taking on the challenges in life, he decides to explore the unexplored. He knows full well that the choice once made cannot be undone, so he chooses the comparatively difficult option. He knows that this choice would affect his life and he is ready to accept as it comes. He knows that if he had taken the other road, his life would have been very different than what it has turned out to be. I don’t think people should regret their choices or decisions once they have been made. First, life has in its store countless opportunities and possibilities so that nobody ever needs to regret. Second, it is not possible for human beings to do everything that is there to be done because they are bound by time and space. So I think instead of regretting, it is more important to keep moving ahead in life without looking back Whether the choice of paths taken is right or wrong will be decided by time. Third, we must own the responsibilities for the decision and choices we make in our life.

HOME ASSIGNMENT

READ THE EXTRACT AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS GIVEN BELOW.
C) ‘And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.”

Questions :
(a) How did both the roads lie?
(b) Why did the poet leave the first road?
(c) Why did the poet suffer from a doubt?
(d)Who does ‘both’ refer to?
(e)Why does the poet doubt his coming back?
(f) Why would the poet like to come back?
(g)Having chosen his road, what decision did the speaker take about the first road?

D) 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.
(a) What will the narrator tell “with a sigh”?
(b)Why does the narrator say, “And that has made all the difference”?
(c)What did the poet wish to do when he takes the road that he has not been able to do?
(d) What is the theme of the poem?
(e) Which road did the narrator finally decide to take and why?

The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost

I. Read the extracts below and answer the questions that follow:

1. “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;”

a) What does the poet mean by ‘yellow wood’?

b) Why did he feel like travelling both the roads?

c) ‘….long I stood’. What did the speaker do while standing for a long time?

d) Explain: ‘And be one traveller’

2. “Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same.”

a) Then took the other . What does ‘the other’ refer to here?

b) Explain : … just as fair’.

c) ‘ the better claim’. What better claim did the other have?

d) Give the rhyme scheme of these lines.

3. “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.”

a) What will the speaker be telling with a sigh?

b) Why do you think the speaker will sigh?

c) Why does the poet say, “And that has made all the difference”?

d) As a symbol, what does ‘road’ signify in the poem?

II. Answer the following questions in not more than two or three sentences.

1. What does the divergence in the road signify in real life?

2. Why did the poet stand long on the forked road to make the decision?

3. Which road does the speaker choose ? Why?

4. Does the poet seem happy about his decision?

III. ‘ The Road not Taken’ symbolizes the metaphor of choices made in life. Describe the theme of the poem justifying its title.