Analysis of The Road Not Taken Poem by Robert Frost - Essay Example

He thinks that he can try the other road the next day but he is also aware of the fact that this may not happen as one choice is followed by another leaving no time for a second chance. The line “I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence” in the last stanza expresses the mood of the speaker in the end. He also goes on to say that his life has differed because of the choice he had made. It is ambiguous whether the speaker is contented with his choice or he is regretting not taking the other road.

The word “sigh” used by the speaker fails to present the true state of his mind. It is not comprehensible whether he is using this word as an expression of relief or regret. The poet has aptly used the metaphorical implications in this poem.  The roads mentioned here are metaphors for the paths we have to choose in our life, and in doing so one has the same doubts in his mind as that of the traveler. The divergence of roads is symbolic of liberty and destiny, liberty in which we have to choose our own path and destiny which is pre-determined.

Life provides us with numerous roads or opportunities and among them, we have to make a choice. The future depends upon the results of the choices we have made in the past. The traveler is free to make his choice but he is ignorant of what lies in store for him while traveling on the road he has chosen. In the same way, we are free to take our decisions but we are not aware of the consequences of our decisions.

The title of the poem The Road Not Taken very well describes the state of mind of the speaker in the end. Although he had made his choice among the paths somewhere deep in his mind there is a curiosity about what he may have lost by not choosing the other road, so the poem concentrates on the effect of the speaker’s decision of not taking the road preferred by majority of the travelers in his life. The speaker also feels that his life has changed a lot due to his choice of not taking that road. The road not taken has altered the speaker’s life rather than the road he traveled by.