the road not taken 赏析

《

The Road Not Taken

》

the collection Mountain Interval, it is the first poem in the volume and is

printed in italics. The title is often mistakenly given as

Traveled

The

poem

has

two

recognized

interpretations;

one

is

a

more

literal

interpretation, while the other is more ironic.

Readers often see the poem literally, as an expression of individualism.

Critics

typically

view

the

poem

as

ironic.[1]

–

Road

Not

Taken,'

perhaps

the

most

famous

example

of

Frost's

own

claims

to

conscious

irony and 'the best example in all of American poetry of a wolf in sheep's

clothing.'

–

and Frost himself warned

one;

it's

a

tricky

poem

–

very

tricky.

Frost

intended

the

poem

as

a

gentle jab at his great friend and fellow poet Edward Thomas with whom

he used to take walks through the forest (Thomas always complained at

the end that they should have taken a different path) and seemed amused

at this certain interpretation of the poem as inspirational.

Literal interpretation

According to the literal (and more common) interpretation, the poem is

inspirational, a paean to individualism and non-conformism.

The

poem

consists

of

four

stanzas.

In

the

first

stanza,

the

speaker

describes his position. He has been out walking in the woods and comes

to two roads, and he stands looking as far down each one as he can see.

He would like to try out both, but doubts he could do that, so therefore he

continues

to

look

down

the

roads

for

a

long

time

trying

to

make

his

decision about which road to take.

Ironic interpretation

The ironic interpretation, widely held by critics,[1][5] is that the poem is

instead

about

regret

and

personal

myth-making,

rationalizing

our

decisions.

In this interpretation, the final two lines:

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

are

ironic

:

the

choice

made

little

or

no

difference

at

all,

the

speaker's

protestations to the contrary. The speaker admits in the second and third

stanzas

that

both

paths

may

be

equally

worn

and

equally

leaf- covered,

and

it

is

only

in

his

future

recollection

that

he

will

call

one

road

traveled by

The sigh, widely interpreted as a sigh of regret, might also be interpreted

ironically: in a 1925 letter to Cristine Yates of Dickson, Tennessee, asking

about the sigh, Frost replied:

of those who might think I would yet live to be sorry for the way I had

taken in life.

Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads to follow on the map of their

continuous

journey,

life.

There

is

never

a

straight

path

that

leaves

one

with

but

a

sole

direction

in

which

to

head.

Regardless

of

the

original

message that Robert Frost had intended to convey, his poem,

Not Taken

one's past, present and the attitude with which he looks upon his future

that determines the shade of the light that he will see the poem in. In any

case however, this poem clearly demonstrates Frost's belief that it is the

road that one chooses that makes him the man who he is.

sorry

I

could

not

travel

both...

It

is

always

difficult

to

make

a

decision because it is impossible not to wonder about the opportunity cost,

what will be missed out on. There is a strong sense of regret before the

choice is even made and it lies in the knowledge that in one lifetime, it is

impossible to travel down every path. In an attempt to make a decision,

the

traveler

down

one

as

far

as

I

could

The

road

that

will

be

chosen leads to the unknown, as does any choice in life. As much he may

strain his eyes to see as far the road stretches, eventually it surpasses his

vision and he can never see where it is going to lead. It is the way that he

chooses

here

that

sets

him

off

on

his

journey

and

decides

where

he

is

going.

What made it have the better claim is that

It was something that was obviously not for everyone because it seemed

that the majority of people took the other path therefore he calls it

road less traveled by

more popular, secure one indicates the type of personality he has, one that

does not want to necessarily follow the crowd but do more of what has

never been done, what is new and different.

both

that

morning

equally

lay

in

leaves

no

step

had

trodden

black.

fallen

no

one

had

yet

to

pass

by

on

this

road.

Perhaps

Frost

does

this

because each time a person comes to the point where they have to make a

choice, it is new to them, somewhere they have never been and they tend

to feel as though no one else had ever been there either.

for another day!

not unusual, but

poem

realizes

that

the

decision

is

not

just

a

temporary

one

and

he

and

acknowledging

that

what

he

chooses

now

will

affect

every

other

choice he makes afterward. Once you have performed an act or spoken a

word that crystallizes who you are, there is no turning back and it cannot

be undone.

Once again at the end of the poem the regret hangs over the traveler like

a

heavy

cloud

about

to

burst.

He

realizes

that

at

the

end

of

his

life,

ages

and

ages

hence

he

will

have

regrets

about

having

never

gone

back

and

traveling

down

the

roads

he

did

not

take.

Yet

he

remains proud of his decision and he recognizes that it was this path that

he chose that made him turn out the way and he did and live his life the

way in which he lived.

all

the

difference.

To

this

man,

what

was

most

important,

what

really

made the difference, is that he did what he wanted, even if it meant taking

the

road

less

traveled.

If

he

hadn't,

he

wouldn't

be

the

same

man

he

is

now.

There are many equally valid meanings to this poem and Robert

Frost

may

have

intended

this.

He

may

have

been

trying

to

achieve

a

universal

understanding.

In

other

words,

there

is

no

judgment,

no

specificity, no moral. There is simply a narrator who makes a decision in

his life that had changed the direction of his life from what it may have

otherwise

been.

It

allows

all

readers

from

all

different

experiences

to

relate to the poem.

Robert

Frost

is

one

of

the

finest

of

rural

New

England’s

20th

century

pastoral poets. His poems are great combination of wisdom, harmony and

serenity.

They

are

simple

at

first

sight,

but

demand

readers

for

deep

reading to grasp further meaning beyond surface.

The

famous

poem

of

Frost

The

Road

Not

Taken

is

my

favorite.

This

poem consists of four stanzas of five lines. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB.

the

rhymes

are

strict

and

masculine,

with

notable

exception

of

the

last

line.

There

are

four

stressed

syllables

each

line,

varying

on

iambic

tetrameter base.

The Road Not Taken tells about life choice. Man’s life is metaphorically

related to a journey filled with twists and turns. One has to consider a lot

before making a wise choice. Though the diverged roads seem identical,

they actually lead to different directions, which symbolize different fates.

A less than rigorous look at the poem may lead one to believe that Frost’s

moral

is

embodied

in

those

lines.

The

poem

is

taken

as

a

call

to

independence,

preaching

originality

and

Emersonian

self-reliance.

The

poem deconstructs its conclusion stanza by stanza.

At

the

beginning

of

this

poem,

the

poet

shows

the

inability

of

human

beings to foresee the future, especially the results of choices. At the split

in the

road,

the

speaker looks

far down both

the two

paths

to

see

what

each of the paths will bring. However, his sight is limited; his eyes can

only

see

the

path

until

it

bends

into

―the

undergrowth‖.

Man

is

free

to

choose, but doesn’t know beforeha

nd the results of his choice.

Both

roads

diverge

into

a

―yellow

wood‖

and

appear

to

be

―about

the

same‖ in their purposes. The first path is a more common route. The other

is less traveled, which ―was grass and wanted wear‖. The poet presents a

conflict

here

—

the

decision

between

the

common

easy

path

and

exceptional

challenging

path.

The

two

different

paths

signify

two

different kinds of lives. Choosing the common easy path, people will feel

at ease and live in safety, because the outcome is predictable. However,

that kind of life may be less exciting and lack of novelty. While choosing

the ―less traveled‖ road represents the gamble of facing a more difficult

path

in

lives.

This

forms

contrast

with

familiar

lives

of

most

people.

People

hope

to

achiever

a

satisfactory

and

interesting

life

on

this

road.

The

wish

is

good,

but

reality

is

full

of

challenges

and

uncertainties.

Nobody

can

be

sure

of

the

outcome.

After

vacillating

between

the

two

roads,

the

poet

finally

decides

to

take

the

road

―less

traveled

by‖

and

leads a different life from common people. This may indicate his choice

to

be

a

poet,

other

than

other

jobs.

The

poet

makes

up

his

mind

to

dedicate

himself

to

poem

writing,

which

is

regarded

as

a

less

common

career.

Once the decision is made, there will be no way to return to the original

choice to experience the other route. So the poet utters ―Yet knowing how

way

leads

on

to

way,I

doubted

if

I

should

ever

come

back.‖

The

made

choice is irrevocable, so man must be careful and rational before making

decisions. At the same time, he must be courageous enough to shoulder

the result of his choice, whether it is good or not.

Frost presents man’s limitation to explore life’s different possibilities. The

poet ―sighs‖ at the end of the poem. For at the time of one’s choice, he

must give up other choices and miss some other things. At the same time,

he ―sighs‖ with lamentation, pondering what he may have missed on the

other path

and

that

he

doesn’t

have

opportunities to

experience

another

kind of life.

The Road Not Taken is interpreted universally as a representation of two

similar

choices.

At

the

beginning,

man

may

face

two

identical

forks,

which

symbolize

the

nexus

of

free

choice

and

fate.

They

contrast

increasingly with each other as they diverge in their separate directions.

Man

is

free

to

choose,

but

it’s

beyond

his

ability

to

foretell

the

consequences. Man can choose a common route which guarantees a safe

and

reliable

life.

He

can

also

choose

a

less

common

one

which

is

unknown, unique and stands ou

t above other else’s. All in all, man must

be responsible for his choice and has courage to shoulder the result. He