THE ROAD NOT TAKEN EXPLANATION BLOG 2
BLOG
2 THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Good
morning boys
HOPE YOU HAVE FILLED YOUR ATTENDANCE IN THE SHEET POSTED ABOVE
HOPE YOU HAVE FILLED YOUR ATTENDANCE IN THE SHEET POSTED ABOVE
Yesterday
you read the poem The Road
not
taken. You were also told about the poet. Today
you will be given a line by line explanation of the poem:
taken. You were also told about the poet. Today
you will be given a line by line explanation of the poem:
At the end of this lesson
you will be able to:
- Summarise the poem
- Explain important words and phrases in the context used here
- Answer questions based on the text.
Let
us begin with the meaning of important words and phrases
1. A yellow wood → it refers to the season of
autumn. Also the poet may mean old age or the later
stages of life
2. It was grassy and wanted wear →
It indicates that hardly anyone had used that second road
3. The passing there → the
use of the road by passers by
4. The leaves no step had trodden black →
once we make decisions we cannot go back and change our decisions
5. How way leads to way → how
one decision often leads to another
CLASSWORK:
Copy the above phrases and their meanings in your English notebook
CLASSWORK:
Copy the above phrases and their meanings in your English notebook
Summary of the poem
Lines 1-2
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
The poet while travelling on foot in
the woods reaches a junction where two roads diverge. Immediately, he realises
that as a traveller travelling both the roads is impossible. Here two roads
express a dilemma between two choices in life. The woods are yellow, which mean
that it is probably fall [autumn] and the leaves are turning yellow.
Lines 3-5
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I
could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
As it is impossible for one person
to travel both the roads, the poet stands there trying to choose which path he
is going to take. However the poet wants to go down both paths and is thinking
about it hard. He stares down one road,
trying to see where it goes. The small plants and greenery of the woods block
his view.
Lines 6-8
Then took the other, as just as
fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted
wear;
The phrase ‘just as fair’ could mean
something like “equally worthy and equal.’ Both roads had the right to be
chosen and one can choose either of the two.
Then the poet decided to check the other path because he found the other
road to be less travelled and a grassy one. From his perspective not many had
gone down that path and he being daring still chose it. “Wanted wear” is alliteration.
Lines 9-10
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
After looking at both the roads, he
found that both the roads were equally travelled. First, he found the first
road to be the more travelled one, but then he says that both the roads were
equally travelled. A layer of leaves covers the paths and so it is difficult to
tell them apart.
Lines 11-12
And
both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Here, again, the poet found both the
paths looking same. Perhaps, he goes in flashback. It was tough for him to
recognise the right road as both seemed the same.
He couldn’t decide the right path as
no step had smashed the leaves on the road to allow him to go for the right one
or the more travelled one. These lines are an example of imagery. Both roads
are untouched, not having been tarnished by previous travellers; this gives us
an idea about the dilemma the poet is going through in making his choice.
Lines 13-15
Oh, I kept the first for another
day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted
if I should ever come back.
The poet here says he saves the
first road for another day. He know how “way leads” to another, how one gets
caught up in the hectic nature of life until you end up very far from where you
started. The poet here saves the first road for another day. Then in the next
line he says he doesn’t think he will ever be able to come back and take the
other path, as much as he wishes he could.
Line 16
I shall be telling this with a
sigh
This line is an example of the
poet’s reflection on whether he did the right in choosing the path he did. The
word “sigh” reflects that he may sometimes wonder a lot about his decision made
on that eventful day. He may wonder what would have happened if he had chosen
the first road. What would have been the differences in his life. He knows that
one cannot possibly choose both and that probably troubles him. The not knowing
what would have happened if the choice was different.
Lines 17-19
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
He accepts the fact that he was in a
great state of dilemma when asked to make his decision. ‘Ages and ages’ is an
example of alliteration. Pondering over his choices, he chose the less
travelled one.
Line 20
And that has made all the
difference.
The poet took the path that no one
else did, and that is what has made the difference in his life, that has made
him successful. There is however a sense of ambiguity as to what the word
difference could mean, it may mean he was successful or that he was a failure.
He does stick to his choice once it is made and the message is one of making
independent decisions.
· Copy the given explanation in your notebook.
THAT IS ALL FOR TODAY
SEE YOU SOON
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