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The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost (HD)

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Robert Frost: A Modernist or Not?

Robert Frost was a well-known American modernist poet. Like other modernist poets, he wrote his poems in ways that were new and different when he was writing, at the beginning of the 20th century. But unlike other modernists, Frost also kept some of the traditional aspects of poetry. You might say he was caught between two movements: the traditional movement and the modernist movement in poetry.

Modernist poetry is different from traditional poetry in several ways: it uses simplified language and often abandons traditional rhyme and meter. In addition, the modernist poets moved away from using images of nature, and they viewed the world with a more pessimistic lens. Finally, the modernists often left their poems vague and open to interpretation by the reader.

Like his contemporaries, Frost favored using simplified language in his poems. And he wrote poems that were not always optimistic. He also lets his readers interpret his poems by leaving them a little bit vague. But unlike other modernist poets, Frost stuck to using traditional meter and rhyme. He also lived in the countryside and used mostly natural images in his poems. So Frost was a modernist, and he also wasn't. He was a bit of a rebel from both sides. Let's take a look at one of his most famous poems and see how it and some of his other poetry both exemplify and go against modernist ideals and how life in the countryside influenced the images he used in his writing.

'The Road Not Taken'

Robert Frost's most famous poem is called 'The Road Not Taken.' Let's start by reading the poem.

'The Road Not Taken'
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.

Traditional Elements in a Modernist Poem

There are several things in this poem that are usually seen in traditional, not modernist, poetry. First of all, you probably noticed that the poem rhymes. In fact, it follows a traditional rhyme pattern. What do I mean by that? Well, you'll notice that in each stanza there are five lines. The first, third and fourth lines rhyme with each other, and the second and fifth lines rhyme with each other. This type of rhyme pattern is usually summed up as 'ABAAB.' The 'A's represent the lines that rhyme with each other; likewise, the two lines that are labeled 'B' rhyme with each other.

Besides rhyme, the poem has a traditional meter, or . Each line has a specific number of syllables, and certain syllables are stressed when they are read. Meter is something that Frost liked to use a lot, even when he didn't use rhyme.

A third, and very important, element in this poem that is not normally seen in modernist poetry is its use of natural . The poem is about someone alone in the woods, and all the descriptions are of nature. Though most modernist poets did not spend a lot of time describing nature, Frost lived in a rural setting, and most of his poems focused on nature.

Contradiction and Interpretation in the Poem

So with all those elements of traditional poetry, what makes this poem modern? Well, for one thing, the language is very basic. But the most important modernist elements of this poem have to do with the poem's meaning: there are a lot of things that aren't clear in the poem, and the mood of the poem is not necessarily uplifting. First, let's look at the way Frost makes the poem unclear. In the second stanza, he describes one of the paths as 'grassy and wanted wear.' In other words, fewer people had gone down that path than the other path.

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robert frost poetry analysis: the road not taken and other poems - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Robert Frost Poetry Analysis: The Road Not Taken and Other Poems - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Robert Frost was a well-known American modernist poet. Like other modernist poets, he wrote his poems in ways that were new and different when he was writing, at the beginning of the 20th century. But unlike other modernists, Frost also kept some of the traditional aspects of poetry.

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Interpreting figurative language in fiction

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Interpreting figurative language in fiction

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Interpreting Figurative Language in Fiction - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Interpreting figurative language in fiction can result in more interesting reading experiences. Learn to identify and define different types of…

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This handout is for the poetry you are reading - week 1

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How to Draw Conclusions

If you've ever been a bit nosey and listened in on a couple's conversation at a coffee shop, you have probably drawn a few conclusions about those people. By gathering informational clues about what they said, how they said it, and their body language, you could conclude a bit about what they're really thinking and feeling by reading between the lines. For example, let's say the man says, 'Why don't we hang out with my friends tonight instead of seeing that new Brad Pitt movie?' Then, the woman says, 'Fine.' But her annoyed tone of voice, crossed arms, and her rolling eyes are all clues that point to the fact that she is not fine with this at all. You wouldn't have to know these two people to draw the conclusion that she doesn't want to hang out with his friends and is annoyed at the thought of missing the movie.

Drawing conclusions is using information that is implied or inferred to make meaning out of what is not clearly stated. Writers give readers hints or clues that help them read between the lines, since not everything is explicitly stated or spelled out all the time. If that were the case in books and in real life, then the coffee shop conversation would've resulted in the woman saying exactly how annoyed she was rather than simply saying the word 'fine' in a suggestive manner.

In order to effectively draw conclusions, readers need to:

Consider what they already know from their own experiences

Gather all of the information that the author has given them (characters' personalities, feelings and motivations, the time period and place, conflicts, etc.)

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drawing conclusions from a reading selection - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Drawing Conclusions from a Reading Selection - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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If you've ever been a bit nosey and listened in on a couple's conversation at a coffee shop, you have probably drawn a few conclusions about those people. By gathering informational clues about what they said, how they said it, and their body language, you could conclude a bit about what they're really thinking and feeling by reading between the lines.

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This handout is for the two poems you are reading - week 1

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Common Adjective Suffixes in English | Forming Adjectives

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Comparing and Contrasting: Examples & Concept - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Comparing and contrasting is usually done to describe the characteristics of two related things or ideas. Learn about the definition and examples...

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