V.

Writing

Critique of Frost's "The Road Not Taken"

Based on a formalist approach, I think the poem means life is a

journey and we should choose the best path, so that we will not regret it in the end.
The title symbolizes that paths that had not been taken. It also shows how things
would be if someone chase the road he or she didn't take.

The speaker communicates many things in the first stanza of the

poem. The first line, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," uses imagery with
the color yellow, the color of gold, to show that the speaker sees an opportunity
ahead of him. The two roads symbolizes the choices and consequences he must
choose. The next line, "And sorry I could not travel both," illustrates how difficult
it is to make a choice. It is impossible not to wonder what could happen by
choosing the other road and what he could be missing out on. "And being one
traveler long I stood," shows how the speaker would like to be in two places at
once. Unable to accomplish this, he takes a long time to decide on what he should
do. Finally, the speaker describes studying the first option, looking as far into the
future as he possibly could

We are told that we only have one chance to pick a path. If you've
already made a decision, there's no need to change your mind. It also taught us that
some events occur in every path, and that most of the time, the selected path will
always take place. The strength of believing oneself is described in the poem. We
could lead the way, but we keep telling ourselves that we can't, when the truth is
that we can.