Question

Assignment in progress for 1070 9813 Language Arts 8 B
Due February 22, 2026 at 11:59 PM
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
1916
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Robert Frost (1874-1963) was an American poet whose poems often depict rural scenes from the New England countryside. "The Road Not Taken" is one of Frost's most well-known poems.
As you read the poem, identify the imagery the speaker uses to describe the setting.

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.

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is in the public domain.


Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under theCC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Notes
AllDefinitionsFootnotes
Diverge (verb) : to separate from another route or go in a different direction
a dense growth of shrubs and other plants, especially under trees in woodland
lacked
crushed, flattened, or walked upon

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Using evidence from the text, explain the impact of the speaker telling their story with a "sigh" in line 16.




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Answer 1

The word "sigh" (line 16) signals that the speaker’s future telling of this choice will be emotional and reflective rather than simply factual. Earlier lines show why: he was "sorry I could not travel both" (line 2) and even though he "kept the first for another day," he admits "I doubted if I should ever come back" (line 15). Those lines suggest regret and the sense that the choice was irreversible. At the same time, he later says, "I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference" (lines 19–20), which could be spoken with pride or rueful acceptance.

Because "sigh" is ambiguous—it can express nostalgia, relief, regret, or resignation—it creates a reflective, uncertain tone and forces the reader to notice the emotional complexity of decisions. The sigh therefore emphasizes that this choice will stay with him "ages and ages hence," and that the outcome is significant but not simply good or bad.