The Road Not Taken
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 claimBecause 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 marked the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to wayI 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 traveled by,And that has made all the difference. - Robert Frost
Symbolism and Theme in Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”

High school graduation motivational speeches and even inspirational quotes often contain words from Robert Frost`s famous poem, "The Road Not Taken". "It is a beautiful poetic statement of bold independence and personal innovation". Whichever choice is taken in life, one will always wonder what possibilities the other choice may have held.
Frost's setting and scene are imbued with symbolic meaning. The first stanza opens up with the line "The roads diverged in a yellow wood" (Frost 1). The use of the word "yellow" could demonstate either spring or fall- a calm time of the year.

Lives are like roads, with split paths representing the different choices one must make. Robert Frost depicted the two paths that he had come across as being two separate ways because he understood that he would probably never come back to see what was down the path he did not choose, "Yet knowing how the way leads on to way/ I doubted if I should ever come back" (14-15). As time pushes forward, there is no will to go back and remake the decision.
The roads symbolizes the journey of Life. However, it signifies not only journey but also the destination. The metaphor of the road is used persistently in the poem , and is therefore an extended metaphor. The poems first two stanzas describe a fork in the road and one of the options the traveler could take. One of the roads is described as grassy and seemed to want to be worn down. These two stanzas are almost about how the road is life. The “traveler” finds a point of decision making at one point in his life and contemplates the options, one of which is less traveled by others. The fact that the undergrowth blocked the rest of the road showed that you cannot see down your life into the future for each decision. The way that he says the road seemed to want wear foreshadows his decision.
The road symbolizes life in general. He uses the fork in the road to show that life has decisions, and like how the traveler says, you can't go back to a road. He followed his heart instead of following the crowd or as the poem says, the less worn path, and it made all the difference in his life. Symbolism is used to describe how there were no markings on the trail to warn of danger down one of the paths. "Trodden black" suggests that neither is more beneficial than the other. The factors of the immediate time is what makes the choice for us. The use of imagery is used when describing his situation that fateful day in the wood, "And both that morning equally lay/ In leaves no step had trodden black" (11-12). The description of the time of day illustrates the scene for the reader. Robert Frost is trying to convey that at the time of the decision, both choices seem full for success and positivety. Showing the rising morning instead of the dawn of a new era in life gives the sense of having to to make that choice.

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