Friday, January 17, 2020

Drama In Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Essay

A very living and breathing drama of life is painted in â€Å"Road Not Taken† that presents a situation in which speaker is caught in a decision-making dilemma. The setting of the poem presents the speaker t a bifurcation of road where he must decide which trail to take. He can not make out where either road leads. He looks at the physical aspects of the road and decides to travel on the less-traveled road. The poem symbolizes the underlying theme of choice-making and speaker’s individuality in prefer a less-common way. It further implies that decision-making must not be procrastinated because it is more harmful than the outcome of an endeavor. Furthermore, in manifest that there is no absolute choice available to human being and he has to prefer one choice over the other provided and governed by destiny. The only distinction that poet has, is his preference of less-common choice. Although whole poem is an extended metaphor of life where one comes across many occasions when he has to make decisions but Frost introduces various metaphorical expression to convey the intensity of the situation. In the very first line, Robert Frost brings in the primary metaphor, the diverging roads. Fist line introduces the dilemma of diverging road while in line 2-3 poet shows the limitations of physical being and regrets over human incapability to travel on both road. â€Å"Long I stood† depicts that he did take the impulsive decision and took his time to make decision. Lines 4-10 depict his comparative examination of both roads. He again refers to human incapacity when he acknowledges that his vision is inadequate. Next two lines resonate the past feeling as he finds the both road â€Å"really about the same†. In 13-15, he makes his decision whereas lines five lines, he visualizes himself in future, talking about his decision to go on the less-traveled path.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The tone of the poem is meditative because speaker contemplates on his options. He has to take into account the characteristics of each road. There is an element of regret also as he can not travel on both road but poems ends on an optimistic not as poet thinks that traveling on less-traveled road will make the difference. He signifies the importance of his individuality that compels him to move on a less-trodden path. He does not adopt the ordinary path in the mundane activities of life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The structure of the poem has a peculiar importance and is constructed on four stanzas with five lines each. The first stanza presents the dilemma; second stanza symbolizes the choices available to the speaker. Third stanza manifests his regret over not taking the other road whereas fourth road depicts the decision of the poet to take the less traveled road. There is sign of exclamation after line 13 that indicates the excitement on decision to keep the first path for another day but this excitement soon dies out as he doubts that whether he will come back. In lines 18 and 19, there is repetition of â€Å"I† that denotes the emphasis on â€Å"his† decision to move on less traveled trail. Rhyme scheme of the poem is abaabcdccd†¦Frost uses simple diction that conveys his message with comprehensive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   So as a whole, this poem uses different poetical tools to describe the psychological dilemma of the poet in decision-making. His experience is not subjective but is of universal nature and he presents it in a subtle way.

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