Poem - 02
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Robert Frost
Answer the following questions in a sentence
or two
1) Where does the traveler find himself? What
problem does he face?
Ans: The traveller finds himself in the yellow woods at a
point where the road forks into two. The problem that he faces is
that he cannot decide
which road to take to continue his journey
since it is not possible for him to travel both roads at the same time.
2) What is a wood? What did the narrator see
in the wood? Were the paths similar?
Ans: Wood refers to the forest the poet was travelling through. The poet/narrator saw two different roads in
the woods. Both the roads were not at all similar. One road was travelled by most of the
people which is the easiest one also and the other road was less travelled as it was difficult to travel on this
road of life.
3) What did the narrator hope that he would
do one day? Was he sure of doing so?
Ans: The narrator
hoped to come back and try the other path someday. No, he did not think he would do so because he knew that one path led to another and it would be difficult for him to
come back.
4) What does the poet mean when he says,
‘worn them really about the same?’
Ans: The poet
means to relay to the readers that both the roads that diverged in
a yellow wood seemed similar and both of them looked as if they had not been used for a while.
5) Does one road seem to be more appealing
than the other?
Ans: Yes the second road which was not visited by
anyone was more appealing than the
other road as it was not weathered as nobody had travelled on it
and anybody had no idea if the path is full of difficulties or not and it would be a new experience for the poet.
6) What did the narrator see in the wood?
Ans: The narrator
sees two roads diverging In a yellow wood and both the roads were covered with fallen yellow
leaves. The first one went down in the 'Undergrowth' of the forest. The other
road was equally beautiful, grassy and 'Wanted Wear'.
7) Why did the poet stand there for ‘long’?
Ans: the poet stood
for a long time
because he thinks about his life as he looks down one path as far as he can see
trying to see what life will be
like if he walks that path. The poet in
the poem “The road Not Taken " is thinking about which path he should choose in life.
8) Explain ‘grassy and wanted wear’.
Ans: In this phrase ' because it was grassy and wanted wear’, poet wants to
draw attention of reader to Road 2. He says by looking at the road it seems
that less number of people have travelled through it. Road becomes grassy and wanted wear when it is
travelled less. In the poem, poet chooses this road.
9) Explain the line “In leaves no step had
trodden back’.
Ans: In leaves
no step had trodden black”: The poet is referring to the paths as equal,
especially the morning he finds himself in two pieces over which path to
traverse. And that the paths are covered with leaves, which haven't been turned black by steps crushing
them.
10) Which road did the poet leave?
Ans: The poet leaves the first road that is well trodden and chooses the one that is less
travelled by'. It is the second road that
is full of challenges.
11)What is the theme of the poem?
Ans: Choices, like the choice "The Road Not Taken," are
linked to the future. The speaker of this poem realizes that his choice of path
will change his life.
Explain the following statements with
reference to their context.
1) Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
Ans: Poem: The Road Not Taken
Poet: Robert Frost
Context: The two roads diverged into a fork in the road,
meaning that the roads went in two separate directions. The “yellow wood” means
the poem is set in autumn. This also means there were leaves on the ground that
might have obscured tracks in the roads. The speaker has come to two
roads in a wood. He has to choose one. One was “grassy and wanted wear,” but
overall the roads are similar. Since it is fall, the roads look different.
2) Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Ans: Poem: The Road Not Taken
Poet: Robert Frost
Context: So
after all this buildup about one road, which he's looked down for a long time,
our speaker takes the other path. Then we get a tricky little phrase to
describe this road. It's "as just as fair." Read without the first
"as," this phrase is clear, if you think of fair as meaning
attractive, or pretty. But the first "as" makes the phrase a little
more difficult. Combining the words "just" and "fair" in
the same phrase is a play on words – both of these words have multiple meanings.
The phrase could mean something like "as just as it is fair," as in
proper, righteous, and equal. But this doesn't quite apply to a road. Yet we trust that our
speaker wouldn't let things get awkward without meaning it. We're guessing that
he means the road is just as pretty, but that in the metaphorical world of this
poem, he thinks he made the fair, or right, choice. But it's not fairer – it's
just as fair. So he was choosing between two roads, or futures, that were
different but potentially equally good. The speaker still seems pretty
uncertain when he explains that this second path is better. It is only
"perhaps" better.
3) I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Ans: Poem: The Road Not Taken
Poet: Robert Frost
Context: Now
we jump forward in time. We don't know exactly when, but we know that it's ages
and ages "hence," or, from now. So we're probably talking years, not
months. We know that this story is important, because the speaker will still be
telling it many years later. He'll be telling it with a sigh, though, which is
interesting because sighs can be happy, sad, or merely reflective and we don't
know what kind of sigh this is. So, we know that this choice is probably going
to be important for the speaker's future, but we don't know if he's going to be
happy about it or not.
4) I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Ans: Poem: The Road Not Taken
Poet: Robert Frost
Context: In
this line, the speaker sums up his story and tells us that he took the road
less traveled by. With the hesitation in the line before, this declaration
could be triumphant or regretful. Also, remember it wasn't exactly clear that
the road our speaker took was the one that was less traveled. He said at first
that it looked less worn, but then that the two roads were actually about
equal. Before you start getting mad at our speaker for stretching the truth,
remember that he's telling his story far in the future, a long time from when
it actually happened. He's predicting that his memory will tell him that he
took the road less traveled by, or that he'll lie in the future, no matter what
the reality of the situation was. At first glance it seems that this line is
triumphant the narrator took the path that no one else did, and that is what
has made the difference in his life that made him successful. But he doesn't
say that it made him successful an optimistic reader wants the line to read
positively, but it could be read either way. A "difference" could
mean success, or utter failure. Remember, the speaker is telling us about what
he's going to say in the future. From where he is now, just looking down the
path as far as he can see, he can't tell if the future that it leads him to is
going to be good or bad. He just knows that his choice is important that it
will make all the difference in his life. The speaker of this poem could be
saying that his choice made all the difference while he's surrounded by his grandchildren,
by a fire in a cozy little house. Or he could be saying it to the wind, while
walking alone on the streets. At this point, he doesn't know and neither do we.
Answer the following questions in 300 words.
1) Discuss the title of the poem “The Road Not Taken.” Is it appropriate for the poem?
Ans: Yes, it is apt because the title of the poem concerns
a choice made between two roads by a person walking in the woods. He would have
liked to explore both the roads, but he knows that he can’t walk on both the
roads at the same time. He chooses the road not travelled on by too many people
and many years later, he feels that all the difference in his life is because
of the choice of roads he had made. The
title of a poem is often a good indication of where the poet's focus lies.
While this poem is, ostensibly, about deciding between two fundamentally very
similar paths in life, the significance of the title is to indicate where the
speaker's mind wanders to when he contemplates this choice. He does not (and in
general, in life, we do not) think too much about the path we have taken: we
have walked that path, and we know exactly where it leads. Instead, the poet is
thinking about the road which he did not take, because he will always wonder a
little about how his life might have been different if he had taken that path.
Because there are not any real differences observable between the paths, the
speaker takes "the road less traveled by" and feels that this has
made "all the difference," but the title betrays the fact that he
still contemplates this choice he made, based on very little, and wonders what
might have changed in his life if he had chosen the other route.
2) Bring out the symbolism in the poem “The
Road Not Taken.”
Ans: The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost is a poem narrated
by a lone traveler confronted with two roads, symbolizing the journey of life
and the decisions we make on that journey. It says that we must carefully take
decision as there is no looking back after we have chosen one way, we have to
move ahead in that way. The poet decides to explore one road and then come back
and explore the other but this might not be possible. The choice of roads in
the poem symbolizes the choices that one has to make in life. All the choices
appear to be equally attractive. They are confusing too as one cannot foretell
the eventual result of one's choice. Through the years, however, we come to
find out that the choices we make and the paths we choose, will make all the
difference in our lives. It is only after the passage of years, that we
can really evaluate the decisions and choices that we make based on the result
of these choices. If we find success, the choice is the right one but if the
result is failure and pain then the choice has obviously not been the right
one.
3) Critically appreciate the poem “The Road
Not Taken.”
Ans: This is an inspirational poem and quite
tricky, according to Robert Frost himself. The poem presents an anti-thesis.
The traveler comes to a fork and wishes to take both, which is impossible.
First, one of the roads is described as grassy and ‘wanting wear’, then he says
that both the roads look the same. This represents the eternal dilemma in man
when he finds the grass greener on the other side. This poem is call for the
reader to forge his or her way in life and not follow the path that others have
taken. This poem encourages self-reliance, reinforces the power of independent
thinking and sticking to one’s decisions. The poet does not moralize about choice.
He simply says that choice is inevitable and you will never know until you have
lived the difference. So there is nothing right or wrong about a choice, it is
all relative. Whatever direction one takes one must pack it with determination
and zest for one can never turn the clock back, or relive that moment.
i) At which point had
the poet reached?
Ans: The poet had reached at a point where two
roads diverged in the yellow wood.
ii) Why was the
traveller feeling sorry?
Ans: He could not travel both the roads. So, the
traveller was feeling sorry.
iii) Give the
opposite to ‘met at a point’ from the passage?
Ans: ‘Diverged’.
i) Which road does
the poet choose?
Ans: The
poet chooses the second road.
ii) Why was the poet
doubtful about the first road?
Ans: The poet doubtful about the first road
because the second road over the first thinking that he would come to it some
other day. Yet, he was very doubtful that he would ever be able to come back to
it someday.
i) Why did the poet
take the other road?
Ans: He thought that it was more challenging to
travel on it as only a few had used it. So, the poet took the other road.
ii) What did the poet
discover while travelling on the other road?
Ans: The poet discovered, while travelling on
the other road, that the second was almost equally used as the first one.
i) How did the poet
make his choice about the roads?
Ans: The poet took the road which was less
travelled as it was grassy and less worn.
ii) What had made a
lot of difference in the poet’s life?
Ans: The poet regretted his decision as he thought
that he would have been successful if he would have taken the other road and so
his life would have been different.
