The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost
THEME: ‘The Road Not Taken’ deals with the dilemma that man faces in life. There are many alternatives. Man being an individual cannot take up all the choices. The impact our choices will make on our lives can’t be foreseen too. Thus, our choices or decisions mark our future. If the decision is incorrect, we have to face the consequences for life as the steps once taken can’t be retraced. MESSAGE: Robert frost’s poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’ throws light on the fact that life is a continuous journey full of divergence every now and then. The important thing is to move on without
turning back whether the choice made was right or wrong. We cannot get everything in life and have to make choices. The right or wrong are relative terms. We cannot come back to travel the ‘roads’ not taken earlier, in this journey of life. Whatever direction our life takes is determined by the choices made by us. We must strive to make our choice a success.
TITLE: ‘The Road’ is the symbol of the choice made by us in life. We at times, regret the choice made but what is done once cannot be undone. Man longs for what he has denied himself in life, rather than focusing on what he has chosen. Hence, the poet has given the title, ‘The Road Not Taken.’
POETIC DEVICES:
Symbolism –The two roads described by the poet are the symbols of challenges and choices that life has to offer. The beaten-track symbolizes the easier path and the less travelled road, the more challenging path. The choice made by the poet, in taking the difficult road symbolizes man’s urge to
live life boldly.
Alliteration - Eg. grassy and wanted wear (‘w’ sound is repeated) it gives a musical effect and enhances the poet’s humour too.
Rhyme Scheme –The rhyme scheme of the poem is abaab
I. Read the extracts below and answer the questions that follow:
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;’
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?
B.
‘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) Why does the poet say he shall tell people ‘this with a sigh’?
b) What does the poet mean by ‘I took the one less travelled by’?
c) What “difference” has been made by his choice?
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.’
a) How did both the roads look like that morning?
b) Explain: ‘Oh I kept the first for another day!’
c) What does the poet mean whenthe says, ‘Way leads on to way’?
d) What did the poet doubt?
II. Answer the following questions in 30 - 40 words.
1.Describe the two roads that the author finds. Which road does he choose?
Ans: The author finds two roads, One was a beaten track. Many people had walked on it. The other road was grassy and seemed less trodden. The poet chooses the second road which was grassy and less walked on and left the first one for some other day.
2. What was the poet’s dilemma in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’?
Ans: The poet faces a dilemma that every man faces in his life. His dilemma was in choosing the roads he decided to take the second road. Hence the road is a symbolic of the choice. The poet decides to take the road less travelled.
3.Why did the poet doubt his coming back on the same intersection in life?
Ans: This poem is about choices, decisions and their consequences. Once a road is chosen, the traveller has to move on. There would never be a befitting time or opportunity for coming back and exercising the choice again. So the poet doubts.
4. What does the choice made by the poet indicates about his personality in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’?
Ans: These lines of the poet reveals the adventurous nature of the him because when he had to take a decision of making a choice, he did not take the beaten track. He chooses the path which is not frequented this indicates the poet’s nature.
III. What is the moral presented by the poet in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’? (100-150 words)
Please click on below link to downloadCBSE Class 9 English The Road not Taken Worksheet Set A
