The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken 

 Comprehension 

 1 

(I) The above stanza has been taken from the poem ' The Road Not Taken ' composed by Robert Frost. 

(II) The poet , being a single traveller , could not travel both the roads at the same time. 

(III) Two roads diverged in a yellow wood . (IV) ' I ' looked up to the point where the road bent in the undergrowth. 

(V) In the above stanza the word 'wood' rhymes with 'stood' . 

 2 

(I) The poet took the other road because it looked better than the first one . 

(II) The other road looked new and travelled by less or no people. 

(III) The other road was about the same as the first as it had been equally travelled . (IV) ' There ' rhymes with ' fair ' and ' wear ' . 

 3 

(I) That morning both the roads were covered with leaves which had no sign of having been trodden by any traveller. 

(II) The ' other road ' wanted wear. It lacked travellers . 

(III) ' The passing there ' made the poet find that his chosen road was not different from the first road not taken as this too was well trodden. 

(IV) The rhyming words in the stanza are - lay , day , way and black , back .

 Central idea 

 Our choices and decisions shape our life. Faced with the dilemma of choosing a road out of the same looking two roads , the poet chose the one looking better because it looked not trodden by any traveller. He made his choice wisely using his knowledge and experience . Though later he found that his chosen road was the same as the first road he had not taken . It was also well trodden. Sometimes he regretted not having chosen the first road . We should make our decisions wisely and keep moving on without regrets .