The Poems of Robert Frost | The Road Not Taken

Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth summary and analysis of Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken."


One of the most iconic contemporary poets in the American tradition, Robert Frost is known for his introspective verse about life in the country.

Inspired by the wildness of the natural world and the mundane, day-to-day life of a New England farmer, Frost’s poems harness the delight of discovery through metaphor, revealing wisdom as they unfold.

Though many of his poems have taken on a greeting-card quality in the popular imagination, they are typically imbued with greater meaning and some are rather dark. By chronicling the natural world through the eyes of the characters populating his poems, he illuminates the human condition—fanciful observations lead into bleak epiphanies.

His seamless blend of the literal and figurative lends his work a timeless quality, securing his place in the pantheon of American poets.

Robert Frost’s poems were published from 1913-62. Considered one of the great American poets, Frost won four Pulitzer Prizes and was an honorary consultant to the Library of Congress, frequently giving public readings. He also read a poem at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

The Poems of Robert Frost contain many important themes, including ambivalence, as Frost’s speakers serve as reminders of the simultaneous validity of opposed ideas; memory, as in many poems a particular sight stirs memory, developing an extended metaphor out of which a narrative is created; and isolation and mortality, as language is used to rage at life’s tragedies, simultaneously devising ways to overcome sadness and find peace. Important symbols include rocks, flowers, and stacked firewood.


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[joe-yoy]

Frost was in England and unlike a fellow poet decided not to enlist in WWI. His friend died in the war, the road less traveled, not enlisting made all the difference.

[najiibjama]

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