Robert Frost Treats Several Themes in His Term Paper

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Robert Frost treats several themes in his short lyrical poem, "The Road Not Taken." First, Frost focuses on the notion of choice and decision: the narrator is faced with a fork in the road and must choose which path to take. He momentarily wishes that he could travel both paths at once and still be "one traveler," (line 3). After hemming and hawing, the narrator chooses the path less trodden. Why the narrator made this decision is not made entirely clear, but Frost suggests that the traveler almost took pity on the road: "it was grassy and wanted wear," (line 8). However, he notices that although he imagined that the one path seemed less worn, that both were "really about the same," (line 10). Finally, the third stanza of Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" explicates the most significant theme of the poem: that of regret. This theme pervades the poem and lends it its title. The narrator sighs and wonders if he shall ever be able to explore the road not taken; he ceases to enjoy the moment and becomes lost in the past and the future. The narrator of "The Road Not Taken" does not describe the path, but rather, how he felt about leaving the other path behind. Frost's tone throughout "The Road Not Taken" is wistful. He wonders where the other path would have led, doubting that he will ever be able to find out. However, Frost's tone is not melancholy. Through lively rhythm and pacing, Frost combines hope and curiosity with the central theme of regret.

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The poem ends on an open note, just as it began. What exactly "the difference" his choice made is unclear, but through the poet's diction, it is clear that the narrator is not so much disappointed with the path he took as he is curious about the path he didn't take. With his lyrical poem "The Road Not Taken," Frost employs various literary devises to create a dual sense of curiosity and regret in the reader.

One of the key literary devises used by Frost in the poem "The Road Not Taken" is careful diction. Because the poem is only comprised of four five-line stanzas, Frost must make deliberate and effective word choices. Therefore, Frost's decision to start six lines with the conjunction "and" is significant. Beginning a line with the word "and" helps the poet convey a rambling narrative, reflecting the wistful mood of the narrator. Significantly, Frost does not use many adjectives in the poem "The Road Not Traveled." In the first line the poet describes the "yellow wood," but besides the "grassy" path that "wanted wear," Frost does not describe scenery (lines 1; 8). Instead, he focuses on the mood of the narrator and the general themes of the poem. This is not a poem describing "the road not taken." Frost's economy of words allows him to focus more on mood than on sensory description.

Mood in "The Road Not Taken" is also carried by rhythm and rhyme schemes. To keep the rhythm and pacing of the poem lively, Frost….....

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