The Road Not Taken Analysis

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To 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 there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In 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 sigh
Somewhere 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.

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Okay...analysis. The two roads represent the choices we make in life. Since (obviously) a person cannot make two different decisions at the same time, he is forced to choose just one. Although he tries his best to predict where his choice will lead him, he is unable to arrive at a conclusion.

The poet's indecision about whether which path is "better" manifests itself here. (And having perhaps the better claim,)
(Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay,)
(I took the one less traveled by,)

The poet's hesitation in the last 3 lines of the poem (I-I took...) further augments his indecision, and he finally concludes that the path he took was "the path less traveled by".

What does all this mean? I don't know. Maybe there'll be further elaboration done in class or something.

Why do I like this poem? Erm...I'd like to say that I really appreciated it for it's deeply symbolism and the many little intricate meanings seamlessly woven into the fabric of the poem. I can't. What I can say, however, is that I do understand a wee little bit of what this poem means, and it has been quite enlightening. I just prefer it to other poems somehow (if only because it's the only one I can comphrehend. :p )

And that's that.