📖 Read the Poem

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, 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 be 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 travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

🔍 Part 1: Comprehension and Analysis

1. What season is described in the poem? How do you know?

2. Why does the speaker say he is "sorry" in line 2?

He is apologising to someone

He regrets that he cannot take both paths

He is sad about being lost

He feels guilty about his choice

3. What does "wanted wear" mean in line 8?

4. In the third stanza, the speaker says "I kept the first for another day!" What does he immediately realise about this hope?

5. Find and explain one example of alliteration in the poem.

6. What is the rhyme scheme of each stanza?

ABAB

AABBA

ABCDE

ABAAB

💭 Part 2: Interpretation and Critical Thinking

7. What do the "two roads" symbolise in this poem? Explain your interpretation.

8. In the final stanza, the speaker imagines telling this story "with a sigh" in the future. What different emotions might this sigh represent?

9. Do you think the speaker actually took "the one less travelled by"? Use evidence from the poem to support your answer.

10. Extended Response: Write a paragraph explaining what you think this poem teaches us about life choices and how we remember them. Consider the difference between what actually happened and how the speaker will tell the story in the future.