Robert Frost : The Road not taken taken and Tuft of Flowers - Research Paper Example

The Road Not Taken The setting of this poem is grassy woodland, and specifically, an un-ventured part of a woodland. These are indicated by phrases “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.. Because it was grassy..” and “leaves no step had trodden black” (Frost 36). The poem has only one character, the author (speaker). Throughout the poem, this character is a lone ranger and converses alone. The divergent roads in the wood have been used figuratively to represent some ancient and deep-seated metaphors.

They symbolize/represent the nexus of free will and fate. This is seen where the author is all alone and had to choose between taking the road that was most trodden or one never trodden on. Roads is also used symbolically to represent the life of a person whereas the divergence of the road represent challenges that people face and put them in a dilemma. The woods are depicted as being yellow. This is used figuratively to signify uncertainty. The speaker was not sure of where the two paths led to.

The main source of this work was Frost’s experience with his friend, Edward Thomas and the poem was written to gentle ease him. The two friends used to take a walk on the woods together. Occasionally, Thomas would take Frost down a particular path but later, he would regret not having chosen a different path. This made Frost to imagine that if he had picked on a path and walked in it, it could have brought better results than being misguided by somebody who ‘knew’ the way (Gay, et al 423).

Tuft of Flowers The setting of this poem is a farm as indicated by the mentioning of a mower in addition to grass ‘Who mowed it in the dew before the sun” (Poetry Foundation). This phrase also indicates that it was early in the morning. The main characters in this poem are Frost (the speaker), the mower and a butterfly. The mower had already finished their work and had left the grass in a helpless situation. Although his actions were important in the development of the poem, the mower was not an active part of the poem because he was already gone by the time Frost appeared in the scene.

The butterfly comes in after Frost had arrived. It seemed to be looking for where it rested and found pleasure the day before. After a long search in vain, the butterfly found some live flowers, the Tuft of Flowers. It then drew Frost’s attention to the tuft of flowers by flying to and from the flowers and back to frost (Poetry Foundation). There is a similarity of character between frost, the butterfly and the mower. All of them were engulfed in loneliness yet they were caring and loving. First, it is clear that the mower was alone when working and the tuft of flowers he spared gave him pleasure and took way his loneliness.

He actually loved them and that is why he spared them “had loved them thus” (Frost 78). When Frost comes in, he too was alone and on seeing the tuft of flowers, the mower’s feelings towards them were transferred to him. The mowing had cost the butterfly its place of delight. On finding the tuft of flowers, it was concerned with Frost’s state of loneliness and decides to share with him its new-found delight. For all the three characters the tuft of flowers gave them some delight, against the forces of loneliness.

The main imagery used in the poem is the tuft of flowers. The tuft of flowers is used to signify unity among men. The tuft of flowerers connected Frost with the mower and made him believe that from that day henceforth, he will never