[Music] an analysis of the road not taken by Robert Frost to begin let's review what is happening in the poem the narrator comes to a fork in the road and has a choice of two paths to take he scrutinizes the path but finds no discernable difference in the last stanza he projects that he will be saying that he Took The Road Less Traveled so what is the difference between the two paths as far as the poem is concerned there is no difference if we put his desire to take the Less Traveled Road together with the fact that the roads are indistinguishable what road can the narator choose the answer of course is neither the last lines of this poem are often quoted as a statement of non-conformity and many people take this to be the theme of the poem the title of the poem should make it clear that this isn't the the case the poem is called after all the road not taken and not something like The Road Less Traveled others talk about the road not taken and say that the poem is about regret to say that regret is an element of the poem is absolutely true the poem is full of the fear of the narrator's regret about making the wrong choice to say that this is the central theme of the poem however is to miss the point FR us larger point is that there are choices in life where there's little or no discern difference and uncertainty makes choosing almost impossible at these times we are often Paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong choice here it is the fear of regret that acts as an impediment to any choice that should be made this is why is the road not taken how do we know that no choice is made by the narrator we need only look at the verb tenses in the poem the first three stances are all written in the past tense the fourth stanza begins with the future tense verb shell in indicating at the rest of the poem is all future speculation additionally Frost repeats the first line in the poem in the fourth stanza to illustrate that the narrator is still back where he was in the beginning this is the tragedy of the poem in the struggle to avoid missing out on either Choice the narrator is lost out on both the road not taken is whichever Choice he might have made for frost this is an essential component of human nature the fear of regret stops us from taking action the theme is explored at length in his play a mask of Mercy the epilogue contains the following my failure is no different than Jonas we both have lacked the courage and the heart to overcome the fear within the soul and go ahead to any accomplishment courage is what it takes and takes the more of because the deeper fear is so Eternal the narrator's fear and apprehension run through the entire poem sorry I could not travel both kept the first for another day doubted if I should ever come back telling this with a sigh the last stanza illustrates the narrator's apprehension further with the stuttered repetition of I two roads diverged in a wood and I I took the One Less Traveled by lastly we have the color yellow which we associate with cowardice used symbolically in the first line of course yellow leaves also indicate Autumn which is also shown by the leaves having fallen to the ground the season in Autumn being before winter which symbolizes death is used to indicate that the narrator is near the end of his life tragically he has wasted nearly his entire life and indecision although the poem is tragic it is Comic as well far from being a statement of non-conformity the force stance as a satire the pompous self-proclaimed non-conformist is the character type with which almost everyone is familiar for despite his uniqueness he's everywhere beginning with the first two lines of the last stanza the narrator attributes epic significance to his choice I shall be telling this with the Sigh some more ages and ages hence Frost intentional use of the archaic sounding words shell and hence contrast stly with the plain speech in the rest of the poem and serve to emphasize the narrator's pretentiousness moreover the grandiose phrase ages and ages leaves no doubt that Frost is mocking him after all no one's life extends over ages in the the last two lines the narrator's boast that he will take The Road Less Traveled and that it will make all the difference is undercut by all the previous observations that the two choices are nearly the same so we have these statements of inflated self-importance contrasted with an inconsequential or at least inscrutable choice and the narrator far from making a bold individualistic stand shrinks fearfully from making any for further analysis and information about Robert Frost philosophy on related topics see our lesson page at so ax.