Stopping By Woods on a The Road Not Taken

Snowy Evening By Robert Frost

By Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
Whose woods these are I think I know.
And sorry I could not travel both
His house is in the village though;
And be one traveler, long I stood
He will not see me stopping here
And looked down one as far as I could
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
My little horse must think it queer
Then took the other, as just as fair,
To stop without a farmhouse near
And having perhaps the better claim,
Between the woods and frozen lake
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
The darkest evening of the year.
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
And both that morning equally lay
The only other sound’s the sweep
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Of easy wind and downy flake.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
I shall be telling this with a sigh
And miles to go before I sleep.
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Analysis of “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

MAJAS :
1. Metaphor: The poem doesn’t have any metaphors. However, there are two extended
metaphors in the poem. The last line of the third stanza, “sweep of easy wind and
downy flake” and the second metaphor is used in the last line with repetition, “and
miles to go before I sleep.” Here, miles represent life’s journey, while sleep represents
death.
2. Personification : Robert Frost has personified the thinking of the horse mildly in the
second stanza when it stops, and in the third stanza he gives a sign to the rider. “He
gives his harness bells a shake/ to ask if there is some mistake.” It shows as if the
horse is a human being who understands his owner’s needs or inquires if they
have to stop.
3. Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers feel things through their five senses.
The poet has used the images for the sense of sights such as woods, house, lake,
and These images help readers see the woods a source of solace and comfort to a
lonely traveler.
4. Alliteration : Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same
lines such as the consistent use of /w/, /wh/ and /s/ sounds. The following phrases are
examples of alliteration from the poem: “watch his woods”, “sound’s the sweep”,
“His house”.
5. Assonance : Assonance is a repetition of the vowel sounds in the same line such as the
sounds of /e/ and /i/ come in quick succession in “he will not see me stopping” and in
“he gives his harness bells a shake.”

Figures of speech :
Figures of speech are words used in a non-literal sense. In this poem, Frost is using
literary devices or figures of speech to try to make a larger point about life. When he says,
for instance, that he "thinks" he knows these woods, the word "thinks" suggests he doesn't
really know them at all, for all that he passed them a thousand times. Of course, in a
literal sense he knows them as a familiar landmark. The poem, however, is suggesting a
different, deeper kind of knowing beyond the literal that only emerges when we take the
time to stop and really see a scene we might have passed too many times to count.

"Downy flake" is a figure of speech. The flakes of snow falling are not literally made of
down or soft bird feathers. They are made of frozen water. But by likening them to down,
the narrator is trying to convey a sense of the dreamy beauty of the scene.
Likewise, in a literal sense, it is simply a waste of words to repeat the last line of the
poem: "And miles to go before I sleep." Why would he do that? We have already heard
the line. Repeating it, however, is a literary device. The poet doesn't have any reason to
do this, except that he is trying to communicate a deeper truth. He repeats the lines,
perhaps to indicate how very unwilling he is to leave a beautiful scene. He also repeats
the line to emphasize, perhaps, that life's most important moments are found in the spaces
between more "important" tasks.
Analysis of “The Road Not Taken”

Majas :

1. Metaphor : There are many metaphors in the poem like road, fork in the road and
yellowwoods. The road in the poem is the metaphor of life, while the fork on the
road metaphorically represents the choices we make to determine the course of
our lives. Similarly, yellow woods are the metaphor of making decisions during
the hard times of a person’s life. These metaphors used in this poem emphasize
the importance of different decisions we make in different situations and their
impacts on our lives.
2. Imagery: Imagery is used to make the readers feel things through their five senses.
The poet has used images of the sense of sights such as leaves, yellowwoods and
These images help readers to actually perceive things they are reading. The image
of the road helps readers to visualize the road providing a navigation route to the
traveler.
3. Simile: A simile is a device used to compare things with familiar things to let the
readers know it easily. There is one simile used in the second stanza such as “as
just as fair”. It shows how the poet has linked the road less taken to the easy way
through life.
4. Personification: Robert Frost has personified road in the third line of the second
stanza. Here, it is stated “Because it was grassy and wanted wear” as if the road is
human, and that it wants to wear and tear.
5. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds such as the sound of /a/
and /o/ in quick succession in “though as far that the passing” and in “Somewhere
ages and ages hence.”