Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening"

Robert Lee Frost was born in San Francisco, March 26. He was one of America's foremost 20th-century poets and a four-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Although his verse forms are traditional, he was a pioneer in the interplay of rhythm and meter and in the poetic use of the vocabulary and inflections of everyday speech. His poetry is thus both traditional and experimental.

The Road Not Taken. This free verse style poem is the most popular piece penned by Robert Frost. It talks about a person who comes across an intersection or a fork in the road and he has to choose which way to follow.  The road, of course, is a metaphor on the choice/s we make in life.  

As the narrator pondered on his choices, he feels strongly that whatever ‘road’ he takes will be for good.  So he must weigh his decision well in order to come up with the best choice and not end up regretting it.  He weighed his choices well and in the end, chose to follow the road less traveled or the road not taken often by travelers.

By doing so, the narrator sort of declared his rebellion to the popular opinion as represented the by the other road.  He decided not to conform to society and take up a less popular choice. This could refer to Frost’s decision to become a writer, which as we all know, is not exactly a lucrative trade. His decision to take up writing as his profession might have been unpopular at first.

The road not taken signifies a difficult choice in a person’s life that could offer him an easy or hard way out.   There are no assurances on what lies ahead; if there will be success or sorrows. Still, choosing the harder path gave Frost the fulfillment he sought.

Frost shows the typical human reaction when confronted with several choices to take both paths at first (ln13: “Oh I marked the first for another day”), but later confesses he “doubted if [he] should ever come back” (ln15). Thus, the poem’s significance lies in Frost coming up with a decision by choosing a road and move on with is life. The act of choosing the road may represent his uniqueness and the fact that he is always moving forward, even without stopping.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.   The poem may provide no direct metaphors or similes, but its format and vivid detail manages to retain the reader’s interest. Like most of his other poems, this one makes heavy use of symbolism. It appears to be simple yet upon close examination reveals hidden meaning.  

At first glance, Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening might denote just that – stopping in the woods to escape the hustle and bustle of city life.  Reading between the lines though would reveal that the stop in the poem could be referring to death.

The topic of death is apparent in a number of Frost’s poems. In this poem the narrator is actually wishing for death.  This is probably the reason the last line “And miles to go before I sleep,” is said twice. It makes one thinks the narrator is sighing. Even if the narrator longs for rest, he cannot.  The horse and cart are preventing him to do so. The horse serves as a reminder for him to get back to reality “to ask if there is some mistake”. The cart represents his duties which he must fulfill which are signified by “harness bells”. Being in the woods take him far from the city which is the symbol of life. Another symbolism is the phrase “Between the woods and the frozen lake”. The woods now become a symbol of life while the frozen lake signifies death. The final example of symbolism is death being compared to sleep.