Robert Frost’s, “the Road Not Taken” a Metaphor for Life,...

Often in poems, we are confronted with metaphors. Simply, a figure of speech where one thing is described in terms of another (Jacobs, 30). Butt there are also times where the whole poem is a metaphor, when a large metaphor functions as the controlling image of a piece of work. Such is the case in Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken. The expressed content of the poem is simply that of the speaker, Frost himself, out on a walk one day in a wooded area. As he is out walking, he arrives at a place in the road that forks, where he has to decide which way he is going to go. However, the implied context in this piece of work is much more complex. The entire piece is one whole metaphor for life. In this paper, I am going to attempt to†¦show more content†¦The pieces written in this time made a concentrated effort to move away from the traditional. The social, political and cultural climates were in great upheaval and therefore the pieces of works written in this time were very diverse, very experimental as well as nontraditional. Such was Frost’s, The Road Not Taken. Though we tend to see this piece as only a metaphor for life, isn’t it also possible that this piece is a metaphor for what the poets where going through with their thought processes at the time, as well as to what the entire country was going through at that time? Yes, most certainly. With all of the changes, whether they be social, cultural or political, we have to understand that, in each circumstance, with the upheaval of certain ideas along with the questioning of a person’s ideals, change is fostered. This is true on all levels, those of basic life, those within literature, as well as those in the social and political worlds. On the basic life level, when we begin to question one of our beliefs, humans tend to account for their questions by changing some of their thought processes, adding new beliefs that tend to better explain our new outlook. â€Å"The modern revels in a dense and often unordered actuality as opposed to the practical and systematic, and in exploring that actuality as it exists in the mind of the writer it has been richly experimental† (Harmon and Holman, 331). So onShow MoreRelatedEssay about Robert Lee Frost1452 Words   |  6 PagesRobert Lee Frost The mark of a great poet is his ability to engage the reader so that they analyse their own lives. Robert Lee Frost (1874 – 1963) – an influential American poet often associated with rural New England – is brilliant at this and uses poetry as a platform for the expression of his own general ideology. Frost’s belief that human society was often chaotic and stressful and that the meaning of life is elusive, has been promoted in his poetry. 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In â€Å"The Road Not Taken† and â€Å"Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening† characters are faced with an inner conflict metaphorically describedRead MoreWilliam Stafford â€Å"Traveling Through the Dark† Robert Frost â€Å"the Road Not Taken†1432 Words   |  6 PagesEdwards February 24, 2013 William Stafford â€Å"Traveling Through the Dark† amp; Robert Frost â€Å"The Road Not Taken† In Robert Frost â€Å"The Road Not Taken† we can see how many different aspects of life decision making comes in the form of symbolisms. â€Å"Two roads diverge in a yellow wood. And sorry I couldn’t not travel both† This showing use how unwilling the character is of not making a right decision, this is centered on how life can come with certain choices one must make but is very unclear on how to.Read More frost Essay1837 Words   |  8 Pages The Road Not Taken In line one, Frost introduces the elements of his primary metaphor, the diverging roads. Lines two to three expresses the speakers disappointment with his human limitations; he must make a choice. The choice is not easy, since quot;long I stoodquot; before coming to a decision. Lines four and five examine the path as best the narrator can. However his vision is limited because the path bends and is covered over. These lines indicate that although the speaker would like to