Summary
To summarise, Frost is referring about his journey of life as sometimes you end up at a fork in the road and have to decide which way to go. He also says that once you go down one road, you can’t go back and try the other. This is reference to real life, as when you choose your path you can never know what it was like if you took the other one. Frost also claims that the less travelled road has made his life all the difference.
Poem Summary
Lines 2-3
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
The Author wants to go and travel on paths, but since it's impossible to walk down two roads at once, he is forced to pick one; therefore he stands there trying to choose which path he's going to take.
Lines 4-5
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
The author wants to go down both roads, although because it impossible, he tries to look down one of the roads as far as he could. The road seemed to be bending, blocked with bush and vegetation away from his sight.
This could be a metaphor about how no matter how much you try to look down one road to see how it will end up; you will never know how it will actually finish unless you go down and experience that road yourself.
Line 6
Then took the other, as just as fair,
The narrator, after looking at the first road turns and looks at the other which seems to show a bit of similarity as the other path at first glance.
Lines 7-8
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
After looking more carefully at the second path, the narrator finds out that this road is grassier and has less wear than the other road. He calls this road the ‘less-traveled’ path.
Lines 9-10
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
As for the amount the amount of people that have travelled both paths, the narrator thinks that bot roads are worn (travelled) about the same.
Lines 11-12
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
The narrator says he’s the first to travel one of these roads this morning as there are fresh leaves laid across both paths, which means both roads have not been walked or “trodden” on this morning.
Line 13
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
The narrator hopes that he will get to travel the path he did not take another day.
Lines 14-15
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
After a while the narrator realises that it’s very unlikely for him to come back and travel the other path. This is because he doesn’t know when or where his chosen path will end for him to back and try the other road.
Lines 16-17
I shall be telling this with a sigh.
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
The narrator sounds saddened by the fact that he did not get to experience both roads, however he will be able to tell about his experience about travelling his chosen path in the future.
Line 18-19
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by,
The narrator admits that he took the road that has been travelled less from the two paths, separated by the forest or the “woods.”
Line 20
And that has made all the difference.
By travelling his chosen path, the narrator says that his choice has greatly influenced his life and has made all the difference.
To summarise, Frost is referring about his journey of life as sometimes you end up at a fork in the road and have to decide which way to go. He also says that once you go down one road, you can’t go back and try the other. This is reference to real life, as when you choose your path you can never know what it was like if you took the other one. Frost also claims that the less travelled road has made his life all the difference.
Poem Summary
Lines 2-3
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
The Author wants to go and travel on paths, but since it's impossible to walk down two roads at once, he is forced to pick one; therefore he stands there trying to choose which path he's going to take.
Lines 4-5
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
The author wants to go down both roads, although because it impossible, he tries to look down one of the roads as far as he could. The road seemed to be bending, blocked with bush and vegetation away from his sight.
This could be a metaphor about how no matter how much you try to look down one road to see how it will end up; you will never know how it will actually finish unless you go down and experience that road yourself.
Line 6
Then took the other, as just as fair,
The narrator, after looking at the first road turns and looks at the other which seems to show a bit of similarity as the other path at first glance.
Lines 7-8
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
After looking more carefully at the second path, the narrator finds out that this road is grassier and has less wear than the other road. He calls this road the ‘less-traveled’ path.
Lines 9-10
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
As for the amount the amount of people that have travelled both paths, the narrator thinks that bot roads are worn (travelled) about the same.
Lines 11-12
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
The narrator says he’s the first to travel one of these roads this morning as there are fresh leaves laid across both paths, which means both roads have not been walked or “trodden” on this morning.
Line 13
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
The narrator hopes that he will get to travel the path he did not take another day.
Lines 14-15
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
After a while the narrator realises that it’s very unlikely for him to come back and travel the other path. This is because he doesn’t know when or where his chosen path will end for him to back and try the other road.
Lines 16-17
I shall be telling this with a sigh.
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
The narrator sounds saddened by the fact that he did not get to experience both roads, however he will be able to tell about his experience about travelling his chosen path in the future.
Line 18-19
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by,
The narrator admits that he took the road that has been travelled less from the two paths, separated by the forest or the “woods.”
Line 20
And that has made all the difference.
By travelling his chosen path, the narrator says that his choice has greatly influenced his life and has made all the difference.