The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost · 1916 · 1 min read · 20 lines

In short

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost is a poem about choosing between two paths and imagining how that choice will be remembered. A traveler pauses where two roads split in a yellow wood, wishing it were possible to follow both. After looking down one road toward a bend hidden by undergrowth, the traveler chooses the other, which seems grassy and less worn. Yet the speaker soon admits that both paths show about the same wear and lie under leaves untouched that morning. The first road is saved for another day, though a return seems unlikely. At the end, the speaker imagines telling the story far in the future, describing one road as less traveled and claiming the choice changed everything.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally layIn 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 sighSomewhere 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.

What it means, line by line

Lines 1 to 5: The speaker reaches a fork in a yellow wood and pauses to study one road. Its bend disappears into undergrowth, limiting what can be seen ahead. The wish to travel both paths introduces the problem: one person must choose without knowing where either option will lead.

Lines 6 to 10: The speaker chooses the other road, first suggesting that its grass makes it seem less used. Words such as “perhaps” make this judgment uncertain. The speaker then corrects that impression, admitting that travelers have worn the two roads about equally. The choice has no clearly established advantage.

Lines 11 to 15: Both roads are covered with leaves that no footsteps have darkened that morning, reinforcing their similarity. The speaker hopes to try the first road later but doubts this will happen. One path leads to further paths, making the original choice difficult to revisit.

Lines 16 to 20: The speaker imagines a future account of the choice, told with a sigh whose feeling remains unclear. In that account, one road becomes less traveled, despite the earlier description of equal wear. The ending leaves readers to consider the gap between an uncertain decision and the definite story later told about it.

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Three questions to think about

How does the description of the two roads change as the speaker considers the choice?
What feelings might the future sigh express, and which details support your reading?
How does the imagined final account differ from what the speaker observes that morning?

Free for 3 months

200,000+ classics. Every format, free to start.

eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and any book printed at cost, large print too.

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