“The Road Not Taken” Poem

“The Path Not Taken” is a poem about how the decisions people make have a major impact on the rest of their lives. Until approaching a fork in the road, the speaker selected one of two paths, and that choice changed his life forever. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is a poem in which the author takes a stop by the woods on a snowy evening. The lovely scene tempts the speaker to linger later, but he recognizes his duties and the distance to travel before retiring for the night. The aim of this research is to look at the parallels and differences between the two poems. In both poems, the speakers are in solitary, and they have to choose between continuing with their journeys. The speaker in the “The Road Not Taken”, reaches a fork and must pick which path to follow for the rest of his trip (Frost lin. 18-20). On the other hand, the speaker in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” has to decide whether to continue the journey and satisfy obligations or enjoy the tranquility of the woods (Frost lin. 13-14). In both poems, the speaker has to move on because it is not possible to remain at one point.

Differences

In the “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, the speaker is taking the journey during winter and this is due to the mentioning of the deep snow that is falling (Frost lin.4). However, speaker in “The Road Not Taken” travels in fall as described using the yellow woods (Frost lin.1).

How his life might have affected his poetry

Frost upbringing was responsible for influencing his poetry. Having been raised in New England, the place helps to provide characters and setting for most of his poems. He studied at St. Lawrence High School which made him a keen student with education and interest that helped to nourish his career as a poet Moreover, Working for low-paying jobs gave him the familiarity with the lower, the low and the middle class in the society whom he used as subjects of his poems (Poetry Foundation par.5). The experiences at school gave him self-confidence and ambition to write.

In conclusion, the two poems by Frost have similarities and differences. Both speakers are on a journey, but during different times and season. It is evident that the upbringing and experiences of frost affected his poetry.

Works Cited

Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken and Other Poems. Courier Corporation, 2012.

Frost, Robert. Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening. Diane Publishing Company, 2004.

Poetry Foundation. “Robert Frost.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2017, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robert-frost. Accessed 26 Nov. 2017.