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Poetry Analysis Sheet

For this performance task, you will read and analyze a maritime-related poem. The following instructions
will help you uncover the meaning of the poem.

1.Title of the Poem: The Road Not Taken BY ROBERT FROST

2. Write a brief summary of the poem in your own words.

In Robert Frost's poem "The road not taken," the guy is faced with two options. The narrator's fear of
regret stemmed from making the wrong decision. There are some decisions in life where there is little to
no difference that can be seen, and the lack of certainty makes choosing nearly difficult. The fear of
making the wrong decision paralyzed people rather frequently. The anxiety of preventing any decision
from being taken is what the poem is about. This is the reason the title, "The Road Not Taken," was
chosen.

3. What do you think the poem means?

Answer these questions:

• Who is the subject of the poem? The fear of regret is the story's main theme.
• What are they talking about? The poem talks about the narrator come to a fork on the road and as the
choice of two path to take. He analyzed the path and find that there is no discernible difference.
• Why do you think the author wrote the poem? This poem was written by the poet to underline the idea
that we will eventually have to make a decision on our course in life in order to attain our goals. We
occasionally experience anxiety along the way because we worry that we will regret our life's decisions.
• When is the poem happening? The poem happened when the narrator stumbled upon two paths which
discerned us the same road with a little to no difference. But he must choose one path to continue the narrator’s
journey.
• Where is the poem happening? The poetry took place somewhere along a yellow road that splits into
two directions which one must choose between paths.
• What is the poet’s attitude? The fear of regret shaped the poet's perspective on the poem. He has to
decide between two paths that are nearly identical to one another. Whether the route he takes will take
him on a good or disastrous journey.
• How does the poem shift from person to person or between different times or places? The poet was
making reference to a first-person observer.

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 Poetry Analysis Sheet (continued)

4. Identify different poetic devices and how they convey the poem’s message.
• Simile – comparison using like or as- In the first and second stanzas, the poet employs simile: "And looked
down one as far as I could" and "Then took the other, as just as far."
• Metaphor – a direct comparison- In order to convey his novel concepts, the poet employs a number of
metaphors in this poem. A metaphor, for instance, can be found in the poem's title, "The Road Not Taken.
"The "road" in it is a metaphor for the decision we make. The "yellow wood" serves as a further metaphor
in the text. The poet implicitly makes a comparison between the concept of change and the yellowish
wood in this phrase. He makes the speaker of this piece look like a traveler who is confused about which
option is best to take with him on his journey. Additionally, the final stanza provides readers with yet
another metaphor. The "less traveled by" road is a metaphor for the choices that people don't want to
make. It describes unconventional practices that pragmatic society does not even attempt to emulate.
However, some individuals select such unconventional choices. Therefore, the speaker has not chosen the
most uncommon option.
• Personification – giving human qualities to nonhuman things- The author uses personification,
alliteration, and imagery to paint a picture in the reader's mind, demonstrate the difficulty of his
decision to "take the road less traveled by," and emphasize the importance of making a decision. The
poem's personification helps the reader connect with the object. Frost uses the phrase "Because it
was grassy and wanted wear" to mean that the road wants something it cannot "want. "Using the
road, personification also helps the reader understand the option. People select the most popular
option while disregarding the option that others should take. Another illustration of this is "and
having perhaps the better claim." A road cannot think and "want" to wear or have the better "claim."
• Tone – what emotion does the speaker use as he talks- Because it lacks confidence, I believe the tone is
sentimental but not direct. The mood of uncertainty and indecisiveness is exacerbated by the addition of
the phrase "long I stood. "The tone shifts into an introspective one in response to the mood. The ambiguity
of the situation is exemplified by the second line's use of the word "perhaps. "The readers are also
confused by the speaker's confused demeanor. The individual becomes similarly self-assured in the
subsequent stanzas, but his tone reflects a sense of loss as he considers the alternative path to be superior
to the one he is about to take.
• Point of view – who is the telling the poem- "The Road Not Taken"'s speaker is not identified and does
not specify their gender. Although there is evidence to suggest that Frost may have based the speaker in
this poem on his acquaintance Edward Thomas, who Frost described as "a person who, whichever road he
went, would be sorry he didn't go the other," it is possible to argue that Frost himself is the speaker.
• Imagery – creating pictures with words- "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" is Frost's first and most
important image in the poem. The poet depicts the location where his speaker is struggling to make a
decision by employing this visual imagery that is saturated with the hues of autumn. He goes on to describe
how the undergrowth bent the roads. It indicates that the speaker is unable to see the road ahead. Frost
creates a beautiful scene in the woods with two long roads that lead in opposite directions. The following
stanzas provide readers with additional secondary details that are essential to the main image. The speaker
claims that the roads appear roughly identical. They are covered in grasses, and one is less traveled than
the other. Additionally, the road is littered with some pale leaves. He can see matted, black leaves along
one road. whereas on the opposite road, he cannot see such leaves.

• Alliteration – repeating the same letter- Alliteration is used by the poet in the phrases "wanted wear"
 and "ages and ages."

5. Identify the theme (central idea) of the poem.

The narrator loses out on both options in the battle to keep from missing out on either. Whatever
decision he might have made is The Road Not Taken. According to the poet, this fundamental
aspect of our nature—the fear of regret—prevents us from taking action. This proves that we are
human because we fear regrets, which shows that we are able to discern between good and evil.
Since there is little to no difference between the two routes, it will be up to us to figure out how to
make the alternate route valuable. We can also relate this to our destiny as we can never know it
without selecting a course of action. The good news is that making a choice in life is not always
easy.

6. Explain how the author’s history and culture have influenced the poem.
List two important experiences that influenced the author:
a. "The Road Not Taken" was penned by Robert Frost as a joke for his friend and poet Edward Thomas.
Thomas was frequently undecided about which road they should take when they went for walks and,
looking back, frequently regretted that they should have actually taken the other one.
b. In his poetry, Robert Frost frequently employed metaphors. The two main themes in Robert Frost's poetry,
despite the fact that he writes about a wide range of topics and ideas, are nature and humanity. “The Road Not
Taken” is also not an exception, even if Robert Frost write this poem to make fun with co-poet it also embodied
the human nature on its theme. Where people must choose between what path should we take and what should
be the outcome if we choose neither one.
List two conditions in the author’s country that influenced his/her life (poverty, political unrest, war, lack of
opportunities, social constraints especially for women):
a. Robert Frost was renown for his non-traditional poetry where he used imaginary, or words that help to see
and hear, to describe nature and daily life in New England. Although Robert Frost was an orphan in his early age
as of 11 years old, he was still the top students in his school he began to like poetry as it was his way to express
what he was feeling.
b. In his later years, when he was 40 years old and had a family of six, two of whom had already passed away for
unknown reasons, he started on the path to become a famous poet after selling his family's farm to start over
because their location didn't provide many options. His family and he started their trip in London, where chances
were more limited because publishers tended to develop youthful talents rather than older men. With the help of
Ezra Pound, an American poet living abroad, and his own tireless efforts, Frost published a poem that would
transform their lives permanently within a year. Even though life is harsh, inspiration may be found in Frost's life
stories. If you allow life consume you, you will undoubtedly face failure. A long-held desire can only be realized
with passion and commitment.