Question

In the space provided below, describe the surface meaning of "The Road Not Taken" in your own words.

The Road Not Taken

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;

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,

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 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 traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

--Robert Frost, 1916

Answer 1

I think the poem is about not taking the easy way out of things. The author chose the unbeaten path, to build character. Yes, the beaten path would have been over sooner and it would be less trechorus but what will that teach anyone. It has the same equivelent of a person getting handed everything by their wealthy parents, and someone who works hard for everything they have. Yes, the hard way is well, hard but it is better in the long run.

Answer 2

The surface meaning of "The Road Not Taken" starts with a person facing a choice to select one way. He chooses and makes a difference at the end and wishes to return to the point where he chose to check out where the other path led.

Step-by-step explanation:

Robert Frost in this poem talks about the path of life. At a juncture, he had to choose between two paths. One path looked like people had travelled on it and the other looked abandoned or not used often so he had described it as grassy and with no leaves trodden black. Here, the two paths stand for two choices in life's path. He chose the road less travelled. This means that he made an unconventional choice which led to a different direction than what most people did. This choice expressed individuality and leadership. By choosing the road that was not taken he made a huge difference. The wood represented life and the divergent paths were the curves thrown in the journey where he had to take an important decision about his life.