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By Robert Frost
ABOUT THE POET
Robert Frost (1874- 1963) was born in San Francisco, Frost spent most of his adult life in rural and New England, his laconic language and emphasis on individualism in his poetry reflect this region. He attended Dartmouth and Harvard but never earned a degree, and as a young man with a growing family he attempted to write poetry while working on a farm or teaching in a school.
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.
1. Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?
The traveller found himself at a fork in the road. Frost uses this fork in the road to represent a point in man’s life where he has to choose the direction he wishes to take in life. He feels sorry that he cannot travel both paths as he must choose one. He felt like taking both the roads as both of them looked equally promising. He stood watching the road for a long time to make up his mind as to which road he should take for his journey.
2. Discuss what these phrases mean to you.
(i) a yellow wood - The leaves of the tree has turned yellow in the autumn season.
(ii) it was grassy and wanted wear - few people seemed to have walked over it.
ABOUT THE POET
Robert Frost (1874- 1963) was born in San Francisco, Frost spent most of his adult life in rural and New England, his laconic language and emphasis on individualism in his poetry reflect this region. He attended Dartmouth and Harvard but never earned a degree, and as a young man with a growing family he attempted to write poetry while working on a farm or teaching in a school.
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.
1. Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?
The traveller found himself at a fork in the road. Frost uses this fork in the road to represent a point in man’s life where he has to choose the direction he wishes to take in life. He feels sorry that he cannot travel both paths as he must choose one. He felt like taking both the roads as both of them looked equally promising. He stood watching the road for a long time to make up his mind as to which road he should take for his journey.
2. Discuss what these phrases mean to you.
(i) a yellow wood - The leaves of the tree has turned yellow in the autumn season.
(ii) it was grassy and wanted wear - few people seemed to have walked over it.
(iii) the passing there - This phrase is used with respect to the path the poet chose to walk or it is used to rather say ‘while walking the path’.
(iv) leaves no step had trodden black - The fallen leaves lay untouched on both the roads. No feet have trampled them, indicating that both the roads were in the same condition.
(v) how way leads on to way - This phrase is used to emphasise the idea that the poet wants to return back and try the first road for another day. The poet faces a serious conflict in life while making a choice. But he soon realises how one way leads to another until one is very far from where it started. Indirectly he says that how one decision a person makes leads to many other decisions in life.
3. Is there any difference between the two roads as the poet describes them
3. Is there any difference between the two roads as the poet describes them
(i) in stanzas two and three?
In stanza two the poet explains that the road he took was looking green and grassy because many people have not travelled yet. Besides this he also says that both roads were in the same condition.
(ii) in the last two lines of the poem?
In the last two lines the poet says that he made a difference by choosing an unconventional career ‘a poet’ i.e., by taking the less worn path. However there is a hint of regret in his decision, as steps once taken cannot be retraced. One cannot start everything again. We prefer to go on and on rather than return back. This is all the difference in one’s life.
4. Message conveyed in the poem.
This poem is about taking decision in life. The poet is confronted with two roads. He debates his choices and he tries to figure out which road to take. Finally he chooses the one less worn.
Here the message conveyed is that all decisions taken in life are momentary, even though there is lot of analysis before taking a decision but the decision itself is momentary. Once we take major decisions in life we cannot look back, we have to stand by our decisions.
In stanza two the poet explains that the road he took was looking green and grassy because many people have not travelled yet. Besides this he also says that both roads were in the same condition.
(ii) in the last two lines of the poem?
In the last two lines the poet says that he made a difference by choosing an unconventional career ‘a poet’ i.e., by taking the less worn path. However there is a hint of regret in his decision, as steps once taken cannot be retraced. One cannot start everything again. We prefer to go on and on rather than return back. This is all the difference in one’s life.
4. Message conveyed in the poem.
This poem is about taking decision in life. The poet is confronted with two roads. He debates his choices and he tries to figure out which road to take. Finally he chooses the one less worn.
Here the message conveyed is that all decisions taken in life are momentary, even though there is lot of analysis before taking a decision but the decision itself is momentary. Once we take major decisions in life we cannot look back, we have to stand by our decisions.
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