Question

Read the third stanza of the poem and describe how the speaker seems to feel about the path he did not choose.

"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."

Answer 1

The speaker in 'The Road Not Taken' feels a sense of regret and uncertainty about the path he did not take, acknowledging that life's choices are complex and often irreversible.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the third stanza of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, the speaker expresses a sense of resignation and uncertainty regarding the path he did not choose. He acknowledges that both paths appeared equally untrodden and inviting that morning. The speaker's decision to keep the first path for another day is met with a doubt that he ever will return, as indicated by the lines:

Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

These lines reveal a recognition of life's complexity and the likelihood that one choice will lead to another, making it improbable that he will have the chance to explore the other path. This retrospection is tinged with a sense of regret and curiosity for the unexperienced possibilities.