Sound and Sense (Ch. 5, 6)

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
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.

-Robert Frost

In my opinion, this is the best poem in these two chapter of Sound and Sense. Whenever I read this poem, I reflect upon my judgments so far and see if they are leading me to where I want to be.

1. Personification

Frost personifies the road he has taken, the other road, by saying that it "wanted wear." By doing this, he makes both roads tempting then they otherwise might be.

2. Repetition

In the last stanza, Frost repeats the word "I." This gives special emphasis to the first-person, (the character in this poem) and the choices that he has made.

3. Exclamation

In the 3rd stanza, he remarks, "Oh, I kept the first for another day!" This exclamation makes Frost seem as if he really wanted to come back at this crossroads and try both roads, which he wasn't able to do.