The Road Not Taken

The following paper provided by this poem company focuses on The Road Not Taken, particularly on the way in which Robert Frost managed to antithesis in order to give the poem its powerful and meaningful message. According to the Western Theories of Poetry in sharing a reflection about life and the difficult choices that we must make throughout the years, Robert Frost uses antithesis. Antithesis impresses a tone of uncertainty and doubt on the poem, thus making it more amiable for the person to read, relate to, and understand. The other aspect of it is the romantic The romantics also argue that what matters in poems is to what degree emotions they evoke are true. Romantic poems aim at interpreting human feelings more than creating them and that is why they look on the common aspects of nature in order to display them with as much charm and truth as it can command.

Upon analyzing Robert Frost’s poem, it is clear that antithesis is not only a welcome literary device, but it is also necessary to make convincing poem, moreover making it real and humane. The reader immediately realizes that the poet is not only talking about the road less travelled by. Apart from its literal meaning, the poem also has a more profound, figurative meaning. Frost wants to talk about the road of life, and the multiple crossroads that everyone comes to as life progresses. Of course, when reaching the crossroads, a person will choose which road he should follow, and of course will choose the best one. Unfortunately, not all choices made are the best, but then again, life offers no repeats.

In order to get people understand this message, Robert Frost was prompted to making it real and humane. When reaching a crossroads, people are filled with doubts, with contradictory thoughts, and this makes it more complicated to make a choice. In the poem, this is exactly what happens. The protagonist takes a moment to consider his options, finally makes a choice, but after choosing one, he claims that there was really no difference between the two, since “though as for that, the passing there had worn them really about the same”. It is important to consider that before stating that there was no real difference between the two, the protagonist does recognize that one path did appear to be less trodden than the other. Based on this, there is antithesis, which implies a contradiction. Frost does this because he is trying to show how difficult it is for a person to make a decision.

Antithesis creates an uncertain tone; uncertainty is exactly what people feel when they are trying to convince themselves that the choice they are going to make is the best. However, even after the choice has been made, uncertainty returns, and it is often followed by melancholy. This tone is also presenting in the poem, and this is possible because of the contradiction going on the protagonist’s mind, which is in turn stressed by antithesis.

Clearly, The Road Not Taken is a poem in which Robert Frost develops antithesis as the means of creating a poem that asks serious questions regarding life’s choices. This poem revolves around human emotions and humane beliefs. Human beings are contradictory by nature, especially when face difficult decisions. This is exactly what Frost wishes to convey, and succeeds in it, moreover antithesis is elemental for this to happen.

In conclusion, this poem is romantic because it displays all aspects the romantics. It displays nature with charm and truth, it’s sentimental and it stirs up imagination. And like we all do when we feel loved, the words said to us linger on in our minds and become a source of joy even when we are alone.