The Road Not Taken is biographical poem. Therefore, some personal biographical information is relevant to the deeper understanding of the poem we have read. Go to www.encarta.com and complete the following worksheet about Robert Frost.

(a) What “momentous decision” was made by Frost in 1912?

(b) How old was he when he had to make this decision?

(c)Why was it so difficult to make this decision? Think and give more than one reason.

(d) Was the “road” Frost had taken easy “to travel”?

(e) Do you think he wrote “The Road Not Taken” before sailing from the USA to England or after?

(f) Can you quote a line or two from the poem that can support your answer?

(g) Do you think Frost finally became popular in America as a poet?

1) What momentous decision was made by frost in 1912?

In 1912 Frost sailed with his family to Great Britain, living first in Glasgow before settling in Beaconsfield outside London." So the momentous decision was to leave the U.S. (a year after leaving his Derry Farm) and settle in Great Britain - which is where he received his first real acclaim as a poet. It was his real first step in pursuing writing poetry as his vocation.

2) How old was he when he had to make this decision?

It's a metaphor, not an actual incident. We make decisions between "two roads" all the time. We have to choose among options and then live with our choice -- sometimes, you can't go back and try again.
He was 42 when the collection including "The Road Not Taken" was published, but that is completely unrelated to "when the event took place" -- the journey he describes is in the mind and the imagination, an elaborate analogy for what we do in life every day.

3) Why was it so difficult to make the decision give more than one reason?

Since he was born in san francisco,so for a while, it was not easy for him to go to a totally different country.

4)Was the 'road' frost had taken easy 'to travel'?

No it was not easy, rather it was difficult for him.....but he chose that road because it had a better claim....the poet also afterwards thinks that if he had take the second road it would have been good for him...

5) Do you think he wrote “The Road Not Taken” before sailing from the USA to England or after?

Robert Frost moved to Glasgow, Scotland in 1912, before going to Beaconsfield near London, England. He wrote The Road Not Taken after that. It was published first in 1916.

7)Do you think Frost finally became popular in America as a poet?

yeah he did. He decided to "take the road less traveled by" (as mentioned in his poem 'The Road not Taken) and did emerge successfully as America's celebrated poet. Perhaps he encourages readers to follow their dreams and achieve their goals.
hope it helps you...... :)

  • 260

Thanks to help me. 

  • 7

 Thanku  4 d help :)

  • 9

a) The momentous decision that Frost took in 1912 was to emigrate from the U.S. to England with his family.

b) Since Frost was born in 1974 and he emigrated in 1912, he was 38 years old then.

c) It must have been very difficult to make this decision as he was already 38 years old and it is quite difficult to settle in a new place at this age. Moreover, he had to sell his farm before he went. Besides he was not an acclaimed poet in the USA and could not be sure how he would be received in England.

d) No, it was not easy for Frost "to travel" on this "road" as he had to make a place for himself in a new country.

(e) Probably, he wrote this poem after he had set sail for England.

f) The line which helps us support this answer is:

Two roads diverged in a wood and I-

I took the one less travelled by

The past tense form of the word "take" used in these lines proves that this poem was written later.

g) Yes, Frost became popular in America as a poet. He also won Pulitzer prize for his poems four times.

  • 47

Robert Frost took the decision to migrate to England in 1912.

It was a momentous decision as he had to leave his hometown and go abroad.

  • 8

a) The momentous decision that Frost took in 1912 was to emigrate from the U.S. to England with his family.

b) Since Frost was born in 1974 and he emigrated in 1912, he was 38 years old then.

c) It must have been very difficult to make this decision as he was already 38 years old and it is quite difficult to settle in a new place at this age. Moreover, he had to sell his farm before he went. Besides he was not an acclaimed poet in the USA and could not be sure how he would be received in England.

d) No, it was not easy for Frost "to travel" on this "road" as he had to make a place for himself in a new country.

(e) Probably, he wrote this poem after he had set sail for England.

f) The line which helps us support this answer is:

Two roads diverged in a wood and I-

I took the one less travelled by

The past tense form of the word "take" used in these lines proves that this poem was written later.

g) Yes, Frost became popular in America as a poet. He also won Pulitzer prize for his poems four times.

  • 14

 it is all fact

  • 0

 read and write the poem answers on your own.  As per CBSE no copying from guide

  • 0

 do you kno the necert question paper site? www.abdnet.ncert .com

  • 0

 thankyou meera rajeev

  • 0

it was as super as ..........

  • 0

he took the worst decision

  • 2

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyhbvg (Y) (N)

  • 3

thnx very muchchch...........

  • 0

thanks

  • 0

thanks

  • -1

tthhaannkksss

  • -1

Thanks a lot........it was really helpful

  • 0

thanx

  • 0

thanks a lot

  • -1

Robert Frost(1874-1963),American poet, who drew his images from the New England countryside and his language from New England speech. Although Frosts images and voice often seem familiar and old, his observations have an edge of skepticism and irony that make his work, upon rereading, never as old-fashioned, easy, or carefree as it first appears. In being both traditional and skeptical, Frosts poetry helped provide a link between the American poetry of the 19th century and that of the 20th century. See also American Literature: Poetry.

SidebarsGREAT WORKS OF LITERATUREFrom North of BostonDisenchanted with the lofty subjects of many American poets, Robert Frost opted to write about the country life with which he was most familiar. Frost developed sound posturing, a form of writing based on the tones of everyday speech. In a 1916 Boston Post interview, Frost stated: 'I hear everything I write. All poetry is to me first a matter of soundI believe, after all, that there must be a cadence, a rhythm, to all that is to be poetry at all. He went on to remark that he had thought of writing a play. I want drama, too. In his collection North of Boston (1914), Frost began to experiment with poems of monologue and dialogue, which critics have called his dramatic poems. The poems reflect his interests in dramatic and natural speech.open sidebar II. LIFE

SidebarsSIDEBARRobert Frost and New EnglandAmerican poet Robert Frost was arguably the most popular poet in the United States during the mid-1900s. At a time when other poets were experimenting with open forms such as free verse, Frost stayed with more traditional rhyme and meter—he once commented that writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down. His poems brought to life the everyday speech of his adopted New England. In a 1976 National Geographic article, American poet and educator Archibald MacLeish discusses the influence of New England on Frosts writing.open sidebar

RobertLeeFrostwasborn in San Francisco, California, the son of William Prescott Frost, Jr., of New Hampshire and Isabelle Moodie of Scotland. He was named after Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate armies during the American Civil War (1861-1865). When Frost was 11 years old, his father died of tuberculosis. The Frost family then moved to Massachusetts, where William Frost wanted to be buried. Frost attended high school in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and began writing poetry. He attended Dartmouth College briefly but withdrew during his first year and went to work. In 1895 he married Elinor White. The couple eventually had six children, two of whom died young. From 1897 to 1899 Frost attended Harvard College, but he left before receiving a degree. In the early 1900s the family owned a small poultry farm in New Hampshire, and Frost taught at a small private school nearby.

Frostcontinuedtowrite poetry, but he was unsuccessful at publishing his work. Seeking better literary opportunities, the Frosts sold their farm and moved to England in 1912. In England, Frost achieved his first literary success. His book of poems A Boy's Will (1913) was printed by the first English publisher that Frost approached. The work established Frost as an author and was representative of his lifelong poetic style: sparse and technically precise, yet evocative in the use of simple and earthy imagery. His second collection, North of Boston, was published in 1914 and also won praise.

InEnglandFrostmetother American poets, including fellow New Englander Amy Lowell and the avant-garde writer Ezra Pound. But Frosts work during this time was associated with that of the Georgian poets, a group of English writers whose lyric poetry celebrated the English countryside. The Georgian poets included Robert Graves, Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen, and Edward Thomas.

In1915Frostandhis family returned to the United States, where his poetry had become popular. He continued to write for the rest of his life, while living on farms in Vermont and New Hampshire and teaching literature at Amherst College, the University of Michigan, Harvard University, and Dartmouth College. In 1961, at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, Frost became the first poet to read a poem—'The Gift Outright—at a presidential inauguration.

III. WORKS

SidebarsGREAT WORKS OF LITERATURE"The Bear" by Robert FrostBy titling his collection of poems West-Running Brook (1928), American poet Robert Frost was hinting that his poems would explore the theme of going against the grain. The rivers in Frosts beloved New England generally flow east, rather than west. In The Bear, published as part of this collection, the poems narrator contrasts bear and man, asserting that mans philosophical inquiries and scientific studies can make him a blind, comical, and pathetic creature. Frosts poems appear simple at first glance, but reveal themselves to be subtle and enigmatic upon further scrutiny.open sidebar

Frost'spoetrymainly reflects life in rural New England, and the language he used was the uncomplicated speech of that region. Although Frost concentrates on ordinary subject matter, he evokes a wide range of emotions, and his poems often shift dramatically from humorous tones to tragic ones. Much of his poetry is concerned with how people interact with their environment, and though he saw the beauty of nature, he also saw its potential dangers.

Frostdislikedfree verse, which was popular with many writers of his time, and instead used traditional metrical and rhythmical schemes. He often wrote in the standard meter of blank verse (lines with five stresses) but ran sentences over several lines so that the poetic meter plays subtly under the rhythms of natural speech. The first lines of 'Birches' (1916) illustrate this distinctive approach to rhythm: 'When I see birches bend to left and right/ Across the lines of straighter darker trees,/ I like to think some boys been swinging them.

Frostlistenedtothe speech in his country world north of Boston, and he recorded it. He had what he called 'The ruling passion in man ... a gregarious instinct to keep together by minding each other's business.' Frost continued to mind his neighbors speech and business in his volume Mountain Interval (1916), which included the poems 'The Road Not Taken,' 'An Old Man's Winter Night,' 'Birches,' 'Putting in the Seed,' 'Snow,' and 'A Time to Talk.'

Frosts1923volumeNew Hampshire earned him the first of four Pulitzer Prizes that he would win over the next 20 years. The volume included longer poems that told stories, such as 'Paul's Wife' and 'The Witch of Coös,' as well as short meditations on various subjects. These meditations include 'Fragmentary Blue,' 'Fire and Ice,' 'Nothing Gold Can Stay,' and 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,' which is perhaps Frosts best-known poem. The poems ending, in which the line And miles to go before I sleep is repeated, indicates Frosts philosophy of continual and productive work—whether it be work on his New England farm, or the written work required to create his poetry.

InthetitlepoemofNew Hampshire, Frost makes an explicit statement about his beliefs. He declares how much he would 'hate to be a runaway from nature,' and asserts that people must make the best of life. He accepts pain or pleasure with indifference but expects more of the former than of the latter, saying that he makes a virtue of my suffering and that he will not lack for pain to keep me awake.

Frost'sCollectedPoems (1930) won him his second Pulitzer Prize. And his next two collections—A Further Range (1936) and A Witness Tree (1942)—also won Pulitzers. He then wrote two plays in blank verse. The first, A Masque of Reason (1945), received lukewarm praise from critics. The second, A Masque of Mercy (1947), which is a modern treatment of Christian biblical figures, was more successful.

Frost'sfinalvolumes of poetry were Steeple Bush (1947) and In the Clearing (1962). The masterpiece of the first collection is 'Directive.' In this complex poem, rich words and images direct a reader to escape the present that is now too much for us by remembering a past time and place, which memory has ...made simple by the loss/ of detail... The poem concludes with symbolic lines about the value of returning to ones roots: 'Here are your waters and your watering place./ Drink and be whole again beyond confusion.'

Find answer in this paragraph.

  • 7

thanks the answers...

  • -1
I am not sure ask my teacher
  • 0
Ans 2) Since Robert Frost was born on 1874 and in 1912 his first book was published. So he was at the age of 38 when he took the decision of his career.
  • 7
where was Robert frost BORN
  • -1
thank you
  • 0

Frost spent the years 1912 to 1915 in England, where among his acquaintances was the writer Edward Thomas. Thomas and Frost became close friends and took many walks together. After Frost returned to New Hampshire in 1915, he sent Thomas an advance copy of "The Road Not Taken." The poem was intended by Frost as a gentle mocking of indecision, particularly the indecision that Thomas had shown on their many walks together. Frost later expressed chagrin that most audiences took the poem more seriously than he had intended; in particular, Thomas took it seriously and personally, and it provided the last straw in Thomas' decision to enlist in World War I. Thomas was killed two years later in the Battle of Arras.

Analysis

"The Road Not Taken" is a narrative and autobiographical poem consisting of four stanzas of iambic tetrameter (though it ishypermetric by one beat – there are nine syllables per line instead of the strict eight required for tetrameter) and is one of Frost's most popular works. Besides being among the best known poems, some claim that it is one of the most misunderstood.

Frost's biographer Lawrance Thompson is also cited as saying that the speaker of the poem is "one who habitually wastes energy in regretting any choice made: belatedly but wistfully he sighs over the attractive alternative rejected."

While a case could be made for the sigh being one of satisfaction, given the critical support of the 'regret' analysis it seems fair to say that this poem is about the human tendency to look back and attribute blame to minor events in one's life, or to attribute more meaning to things than they may deserve.
 

  • 0

Frost spent the years 1912 to 1915 in England, where among his acquaintances was the writer Edward Thomas. Thomas and Frost became close friends and took many walks together. After Frost returned to New Hampshire in 1915, he sent Thomas an advance copy of "The Road Not Taken." The poem was intended by Frost as a gentle mocking of indecision, particularly the indecision that Thomas had shown on their many walks together. Frost later expressed chagrin that most audiences took the poem more seriously than he had intended; in particular, Thomas took it seriously and personally, and it provided the last straw in Thomas' decision to enlist in World War I. Thomas was killed two years later in the Battle of Arras.

 

 

  • 1
Hi iam newton
  • -1
Please refer the encyclopedia for your answer .hello my friends of ix b isn
  • -1
Thanks for help
  • 0
What are you looking for?