Question 1. What is a wood? What did the narrator see in the wood?
Were the paths similar?
Answer:
Wood means a forest. He saw two paths diverging and disappearing
in the undergrowth. No, one had more grass and seemed less used
than the other.
Question 2. What did the narrator hope that he would do one day?
Was he sure of doing so?
Answer:
The narrator hoped to come back and try the other path someday.
No, he did not think he would do so because he knew that one path
led to another and it would be difficult for him to come back.
Question 3. Does one road seem to be more appealing than the other?
Use examples from the poem to support your answer.
Answer:
At first the narrator comes to a fork in the road and is not able to
decide which path to take. One of the roads looks more frequented by
people while the second road appears to be less travelled on. Though
he is tempted to walk on both, he decides to take the second path
with the intention of walking on the first one sometime in future.
Question 4. What does the poet mean when he says,‘worn them really
about the same’?
Answer:
The poet means to relay to the readers that both the roads that
diverged in a yellow wood seemed similar and both of them looked as
if they had not been used for a while.
Question 1. Discuss the title of the poem “The Road Not Taken”. Is it
appropriate for the poem?
Answer:
Yes, it is apt because the title of the poem concerns a choice made
between two roads by a person walking in the woods. He would have
liked to explore both the roads, but he knows that he can’t walk on
both the roads at the same time. He chooses the road not travelled on
by too many people and many years later, he feels that all the
difference in his life is because of the choice of roads he had made.
Question 2. Why does the poet say he shall tell people “this with a
sigh”? Why do you think the final stanza starts with a sigh?
Answer:
The poet comes to a fork in the road and decides to walk on the path
that looks less walked on. He is however wishful of walking on the
other road on some other day. He is not sure if his choice has been
the right one and feels that if someone asks him to justify his choice
he would probably answer him with a sigh.
The sigh could signify two things. Either it is a sigh of happiness and
contentment at having achieved success in life because of the right
choices ihade at the right time or it could be interpreted to mean that
the sigh is one of regret and sorrow at having made the wrong choice
and lost out on a golden opportunity.
Question 3. Bring out the symbolism in the poem “The Road Not
Taken”.
Answer:
The poem is about something more than the choice of paths in a
wood. We can interpret the narrator’s choice of a road as a symbol for
any choice in life between alternatives that appear almost equally
attractive. It is only after the passage of years, that we can really
evaluate the decisions and choices that we make based on the result
of these choices. If we find success, the choice is the right one but if
the result is failure and pain then the choice has obviously not been
the right one.
Question 1.
“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;”
(a) What does the narrator mean by “a yellow wood”?
Answer:
By “yellow wood” the poet means a forest where the trees have
yellowing and falling leaves.
b) What choice did the narrator have to make?
Answer: The narrator had to choose between the two roads.
(c) What does the narrator regret?
Answer:
The narrator regrets the fact that he cannot travel on both the paths.
He also regrets the fact that he cannot come back to the start once he
makes a choice.
Question 2.
“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 I could;
To where it bent in the undergrowth,”
(a) What did the narrator see in the wood?
Answer:
The narrator saw two paths diverging in the forest.
(b) Why did the poet stand there for “long”?
Answer:
The poet stood there for long because he could not make up his mind
which path to take.
(c) The poet here is using “roads” as symbols of:
Answer:
Choices one makes in life.
Question 3.
“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,”
(a) What does “other” refer to in the above lines?
Answer:
In the above lines, “other” refers to the road that was grassy and less
travelled upon.
(b) Which road did the narrator choose?
Answer:
The narrator chose the one that was grassy and less travelled upon.
(c) Explain “grassy and wanted wear”?
Answer:
The road was covered with grass as not many people had walked this
road so it was more inviting.
Question 4.
‘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.”
(a) What does “both” refer to?
Answer:
In the given lines “both” refers to the two roads that forked out in
different directions.
(b) Explain the line “In leaves no step had trodden back”.
Answer:
The given line means a path not commonly used so the dried leaves
that lay on the ground and had not been trampled upon.
(c) What made the narrator doubt whether he “should ever come
back”?
Answer:
The fact that one road generally leads to another made the narrator
doubt that he should ever come back.
Question 5.
“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”
(a) Which road did the poet leave?
Answer:
The poet left the road on which most people travelled.
(b) When will the poet look back on his life?
Answer:
The poet would look back on his life after a very long time – when he
is an old man.
(c) Why do you think the poet says this “with a sigh”?
Answer:
The poet is regretful; he could not return and take the road he had
left behind to travel on another day.
(d) Where is the narrator standing?
Answer:
The narrator is standing at a place where the road forked into two.
(e) Why was the narrator sorry?
Answer: The narrator was sorry because he could not travel both
roads.
(f) What will the narrator tell “with a sigh”?
Answer: The narrator will tell about the fork that he had come to in
the woods and the choice he had to make; the fact that he had taken
the road less frequented by people.
(g) Why does the narrator say, “And that has made all the
difference”?
Answer:
The narrator said that later in life he shall be retrospectively telling
people how his life has been different due to the choices he had made
long ago.
(h) What did the poet wish to do when he takes the road that he has
not been able to do?
Answer: The poet wanted to come back and take the other road.
a) What is the theme of the poem?
Answer:
The theme of the poem is the various problems we face in life and the
choices we make.
(b) Which poetic device defines the roads in the wood?
Answer: A metaphor has been used to define the two roads in the
wood.
(c) What is the tone of the poet in the last stanza?
Answer: The poet adopts a reflective tone in the last stanza.