The Road Not Taken

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The Road Not Taken

• Robert Frost

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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

• Symbol choices in life / make a decision
• universal questions of life (p.183)
• Feel confused Am I right?
• In a dilemma freedom vs. duty
• ethics vs. peer
  pressure
• Unable to make a decision ? afraid of getting
  hurt
• Face major life ritual teenage ? adulthood ?
  fatherhood

3
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

• Everyone is travelling in the life journey.
• Sometimes we need a rest, taking a breath and
  thinking about what were going to do next.
• This is not exactly because of being physically
  fatigued but perhaps spiritual tiredness.
• Repetition adding musical quality
• Implied meaning bent

4
Then took the other, as just as fair,And having
perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy
and wanted wear

• Suddenly, I made a different decision,
• because the second road was just as fair as the
  first one.
• Or rather, this is more recommendable, desirable,
  or appealing to me.
• Personification road can claim?!
• Implied meaning grassy wanted wear

5
Though as for that, the passing thereHad worn
them really about the same,

• What is inferred?
• We are afraid of different outcome, unexpected
  expectation.

And both that morning equally layIn leaves no
step had trodden black.

• Implied meaning equally

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• Everyone has equal chance to choose, and that is
  the freedom we are granted. However, once making
  the decision, we shouldnt feel regret. We must
  learn to take responsibility. That is life.

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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 speaker finally made the decision. He chose
  the second one!
• Though doubtful of the future uncertainty, the
  speaker realized that s/he couldnt regret once
  the decision was made.
• Implied meaning how way leads on to way

8
I shall be telling this with a sighsomewhere
ages and ages hencetwo roads diverged in a
wood, and II took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.

• Implied meaning sigh
• The choice/decision made at that moment (????)
  has made all the difference. Whether it is good
  or not, we all have to take the consequence.

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The Road Not Taken

• ???????
• What is inferred?
• The road not taken vs. the road the speaker
  actually took
• Poetry should contain contrasts and lead to a
  clarifying of experience.
• ?????,??????
• Though I didnt take the first road, I feel great
  on another different road.

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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

• Robert Frost

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Whose woods these are I think I know

• ??I think I know whose woods these are.
• whose??????
• These are someones woods. gt ?????
• These are whose woods. ? Whose woods are these?
• ??????? I know whose woods these are.
• Q Does the speaker actually get acquainted with
  the owner of the woods?

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His house is in the village though(so) He will
not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill
up with snow.

• though (adv.) however
• fill up with?????become filled up with snow (fill
  up with?be filled up with??)
• ???,???????????,??????????????????????
• Q Can you read between the lines? What comment
  may the speaker give to the owner of the woods?

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Q Why doesnt the poet visit the owner? Instead,
he just stopped in the woods to see the falling
snow.

• Whose woods these are I think I know.
• His house is in the village though
• He will not see me stopping here
• To watch his woods fill up with snow.

• The poet is not in the mood of visiting people.
• He probably thinks of the owner of this woods as
  a short-sighted man who lives in the village,
  leaving this beauty deserted.

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My little horse must think it queerTo stop
without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and
frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.

• it ? dummy object, referring to to stop
• think it OC to V / think it OC that ??
• other verbsbelieve, consider, make, find
• Ex ????Tom??????
• I find to talk with Tom interesting.
• I find it interesting to talk with Tom.
• The speakers horse might think, It is dark now.
  We are surrounded with chilliness and desolation
  only! Why not keep going? So

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He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if
there is some mistake.

• He the little horse, the only one (visible)
  companion of the speaker
• Inference Even the speakers fellow traveler
  (horse) can not understand the speakers true
  feeling and intention.
• Thus, here come the following two.

The only other sound is the sweepOf easy wind
and downy flake.
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Q The poet doesnt respond to his horse. Why?
? What penetrates this bleak and desert forest
is just the sound made by the quick move of the
wind and the soft falling snow in large flakes.

• He gives his harness bells a shake
• To ask if there is some mistake.
• The only other sounds the sweep
• Of easy wind and downy flake.

• It seems very hard for the speaker to find a
  bosom friend, or a soul mate.
• Therefore, in the next stanza, s/he mentioned I
  have promises to keep ? ?????????????,???????????
  ??
• So, whats the exact intention the speaker would
  like to express?

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The woods are lovely, dark and deep,But I have
promises to keep, And miles to go before I
sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

• ??????????lovely,????????????,?????????
• ?????,?????alluring/fascinating/appealing/attracti
  ve
• ??????????,?????(?????dark and deep),?????????????
  ?????,??,?????????(?????)???????,????????????????
• Promise????????????????,miles????????,sleep???????
  ?
• ? ?enjoy freedom??,???fulfill duty (????)?

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Q What else wisdom can be inferred from this
poem?

• The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
• But I have promises to keep.
• And miles to go before I sleep,
• And miles to go before I sleep.

• For ordinary people, woods are dreary, dreadful,
  and dangerous.
• But for those who are farsighted, for the greats,
  for giants, or for anyone who can be appreciative
  of the nature,
• lovely The essence of Nature is beauty.
• dark This woods is filled up with challenge.
  This woods is worth a visit. We must adventure
  it.
• deep profound ? We can learn from Nature, which
  is rich in wisdom and philosophy for human
  beings.
• Agree or not?
• ?A good poem begins in delight and ends in
  wisdom.

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The End

• Q A