The Road Not Taken | Poem 4 | English 9th | Tulip Series | JKANSWERS |

 Poem 4 – The Road Not Taken [Tulip Series] Free NCERT Solutions | JKANSWERS |

(Robert Lee Frost)

Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963), American poet was born in San Francisco, California. Frost attended high school in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and began writing poetry. Frost continued to write poetry, but he was unsuccessful at publishing his work. Seeking better literary opportunities, the Frost's sold their farm and moved to England in 1912. In England, Frost achieved his first literary success. His book of poems A Boy’s Will (1913) was printed by the first English publisher that Frost approached. The work established Frost as an eminent poet? His second collection, North of Boston, was published in 1914 and won praise. He won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry four times (1924, 1931, 1937, and 1943). He wrote simply but insightfully about common, ordinary experiences.

The Road Not Taken

(Robert Lee Frost)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence;

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Central Idea of the Poem

            There maybe a few in number in this world who have not faced the ups and downs in their lives. A time comes in our lives when we have to face the situation of making choices or decisions. The poem “The Road Not Taken” tells us about making choices and the choices that shape us and take us to the destination.

Summary of the Poem

          The poem “The Road Not Taken” has been written by a famous American poet, Robert Lee Frost. He faced hard times in publishing his collection of poems. In this poem, he tells us about making choices. In everyone’s life, a day comes when one has to decide for right or wrong this takes a person to the desired track he selects.

            The poet faces the same situation in this poem. He comes across a diverged road. He says that being a single traveller he cannot stay for a long time gazing the road, as he cannot travel on both the roads. He looks down one of the roads and finds it narrow and hard to pass through because it is full of bushes and dense forest trees.

            Then he looks towards the other road which is very fair to walk through because it is covered with soft grass and has not been used yet by any traveller. This road seems to be good for travelling.

            He says that both roads are equal in use because both roads have not been used by anyone. No steps have been seen on these roads as leaves are, as such as they have fallen. No footprints are seen on the decomposed leaves. The poet decides to travel through the road which he describes as hard and densely populated with forest trees and bushes. Doubt comes in his mind whether he ever comes back to home to meet his family or not.

            With a sigh, he says to himself if he loses his way, he will tell everyone that he lost his way only by taking the wrong decision or by selecting the wrong choice on the road which was diverged in two roads, and that decision made all the difference that he came to an unknown place, leaving his family there at home.

            The poet in this poem conveys a meaningful message that he experiences in his life. A good choice makes our life happy forever and the wrong choice ruins our lives. So, it is better to think before making choices and decisions. Wisely saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Understanding the Poem

Q1. Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?

Ans. The poet finds himself in a yellow wood where the road has diverged into two roads. He finds that one road goes through the dense forest trees and bushes and the other on the soft green grass. Due to this separation of roads, he faces a problem of making a decision of what way he has to travel.

Q2. What is the difference between the two roads as described by the poet in stanzas two and three?

And. The poet says that one road goes through the dense forest trees and bushes, and the other road is grassy looking. Both roads have not been used yet as no steps have been seen on the roads.

Q3. Which road does the poet choose? Does he regret his decision?

Ans. The poet chooses the road which is less travelled by and which goes through the dense forest trees and bushes. Yes, he regrets his decision because in the last stanza of the poem he says that he will tell every generation that his wrong choice made all the difference that he lost his way back to his home.

Q4. Find the rhyme scheme of the poem.

Ans. The poem has ‘ab aa b’ type of rhyme scheme, that is, the last word of the first line rhymes with the last words of third and fourth lines, and the last word of the second line rhymes with the last word of fifth line vice versa.

Example:

First-line       -----     wood

Third line     -----     stood

Fourth line   -----     could

Second-line  -----     both

Fifth line       -----     undergrowth

and so on …….

Q5. Explain the meaning of the following phrases

a) a yellow wood

b) bent in the undergrowth

c) trodden black

Ans.

a) a yellow wood: Since this the autumn season in the poem, so the forest looks yellow to the poet. A yellow wood means the yellow colour of the forest trees due autumn.

b) bent in the undergrowth: A narrow path through the forest which is difficult to pass through, or which has dense bushes and forests to see the direction of the path.

c) trodden black: Footprints or steps which remain after a person walks on moist land.

Learning about the literary device

Metaphor: is the application of a word or phrase to somebody or something that is not meant literally but to make a comparison. For example, when we say that somebody is a snake, we don’t mean that we only mean to describe his deceiving character by comparing him to a snake. If we compare the freshness of something to a dewdrop, we don’t mean that the thing by itself is dew, but he is as fresh as a dew. `The mind is an ocean’ suggests the vastness of a mind.

Q1. Which word does Frost use as a metaphor for the choices we make in life?

Ans. Frost explains the difficulties he faced in his lifetime. He puts this experience of life in his poem so that everyone could avoid wrong decisions whenever this kind of situation occurs. He relates his decision to the two roads which are diverged on a single road. By using this metaphor, he means to say that there are two ways of life to live. One way leads to a good destination and the other to the wrong destination. It is up to a person what way he chooses. Frost uses diverged roads as a metaphor for the choices we make in lives.

Structure of the Poem

The poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ consist of four stanzas and each stanza contains five lines. Metaphors are used in the poem. The poem has ‘ab aa b’ type of rhyme scheme, that is, the last word of the first line rhymes with the last words of third and fourth lines, and the last word of the second line rhymes with the last word of fifth line vice versa.

Example:

First-line       -----     wood

Third line     -----     stood

Fourth line   -----     could

Second-line  -----     both

Fifth line       -----     undergrowth

and so on …….

Discussion

Q1. What do you want to be in life? List three choices in order of preference.

Ans. Everyone in this world has its aim. To be successful in achieving this aim, one has to leave no stone unturned in his life. Different people have different aims. If students in a class are asked about their aims, they reply differently. Some may say becoming a doctor, some say, teachers, some say engineers. About myself, I never thought about any fixed aim. I was confused about making choices of my aim. So, I never made any attempt to work hard for my aim. I myself like travelling, which has become my hobby. Once I thought to become a doctor, an engineer, or an honest administrative officer. I preferred more of becoming a teacher. When I was in class third, I used to teach fifth class students. I liked to teach people. I was feeling happy when they learn from me.

Q2. Have a discussion in the class on the topic `Career options available to the students of J&K’.

Ans. It will not be wise saying in this twenty-first century, when a person living in the North of the world can communicate to the persons living in other corners of the world, within seconds. This is the age of information and communication technology that has connected the whole world together.

            Students of Jammu and Kashmir (Union Territory – August 2019) are very intelligent and hardworking. They don’t need any career counseling. They are wise enough to make their choices. We already know that the education sector has left no stone unturned to build the future of the students of J and K, UT. When a student enters the class at the higher secondary level, he is given many options for selecting the subjects of his choice. A student makes his choice based on his aim.

Suggested Reading

Mending wall by Robert Frost