Discussion Topic
Significance and Interpretation of "A Sigh" in "The Road Not Taken"
Summary:
In Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken," the "sigh" in the last stanza is a complex and ambiguous expression reflecting the speaker's contemplation of past choices. It may indicate regret over not exploring the other path, symbolizing roads in life not taken, or simply reflect on the irreversible nature of decisions. The sigh is neither explicitly positive nor negative, allowing readers to interpret it as a reflection on life's divergent paths and their impact. Frost's use of "sigh" highlights the enduring curiosity about untaken opportunities.
In "The Road Not Taken," what is the nature of the "sigh" in the last stanza?
The "sigh" is not necessarily a sigh of regret that he did not choose the other road, but a sigh of regret that he was unable to see where that other road would have taken him or where he would have been at the time he was writing the poem. There is a very subtle indication of a sigh in the poem itself, and it is one of the best things in the entire poem. When he says, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by," that break indicated by a dash must be taken to represent the sigh itself. It would seem that he cannot tell about the event without feeling a strong emotion which causes him to stop in mid-sentence and sigh.
It is also interesting that he should say that he will be telling about this incident "Somewhere ages and ages...
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hence." That sounds like hundreds of years in the future. Does this means he believes in personal immortality? It suggests that the road he chose to take a long time ago is an endless road, one that has already taken him a long distance but one he will have to continue traveling throughout eternity. That should be enough to make anyone sigh. It seems quite probable that he is not sighing because he regrets not taking that other road, or at least finding out where that other road led, but because he realizes he still has a long journey ahead of him, one that might take him forever. One might be reminded of the conclusion of Frost's most famous poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," in which he repeats that he has "miles to go before I sleep / And miles to go before I sleep."
What is the significance of the sigh in the last stanza of "The Road Not Taken"?
The sigh near the end of "The Road Not Taken" is intended to express a feeling of regret that the speaker will never know what would have happened to him in life if he had taken that other road, the road which he calls the one not taken. Obviously, if he had taken the other road, then the road he actually took would have been the one not taken. This poem is obviously not about a man taking a walk and having to choose between two real roads. The crossroads in the poem are a metaphor for a time in the speaker's life when he had to make an important decision about how he was going to live his life. Some have speculated that the speaker of the poem is Robert Frost himself, as he had to make a decision about a very common life problem. He knew he had creative talent, but he still had to make a living. He could either have a spartan existence, not unlike that of Henry David Thoreau, and devote his life to poetry; or he could get some kind of job and only write poetry in his limited free time. Frost chose the former "road." It was a long, bumpy road, but he was one of the few poets who achieved recognition and financial security. If he had taken the other road he might have been equally successful without having to endure the rather dreary life of a New England farmer. But he would never know.
Frost confided to a young girl who queried about the meaning of the "sigh":
Amherst Mass April 1925
"Dear Miss Yates:
No wonder you were a little puzzled over the end of my Road Not Taken. It was my rather private jest at the expense of those who might think I would yet live to be sorry for the way I had taken in life. I suppose I was gently teasing them. I'm not really a very regretful person, but for your solicitousness on my behalf I'm
your friend always
Robert Frost"
(Finger, L. L.: "Frost's 'The Road Not Taken': a 1925 Letter come to Light", American Literature v.50)
The "sigh" is one of the many subtle amenities in "The Road Not Taken." It occurs in these lines:
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.
We seem to be hearing that sigh across those "ages and ages" at the point where the word "I" occurs twice with a dash indicating where the speaker pauses and takes in a deep breath before continuing.
In "The Road Not Taken," is the term "sigh" intended to be ambiguous?
The term "sigh" used here is deliberately neutral; it does not denote sadness or joy, but simple reflection. The narrator is thinking on a choice he made, a deliberate decision, one which defined his own life. This may be good or bad; it is never clarified, although the general tone of the poem is positive. The narrator echoes his own opening lines in the last stanza to show how he has been shaped by his choices:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both.[...]
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.
(Frost, "The Road Not Taken," bartleby.com)
His sigh is entirely ambiguous; he is not explaining his motivations or the results, but only that he made the choice where others may have not. Instead of taking the "safer" path, the one where many more travelers have gone, he takes "the road less traveled by," for reasons unknown. This means that his life is defined by his desire to go somewhat against the flow of society; his sigh may be of regret, or of relief, but it is the reflection of his decision. While he does not sigh at the moment of decision, he will later, because in hindsight he will be better able to understand his decision and how it has affected his life.
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Why might the speaker "sigh" when reflecting on his journey in "The Road Not Taken"?
In the final stanza of this poem, the speaker says that he "shall be telling this [story of making his choice] with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence" (lines 16–17). He thinks far into the future, when he might be relating stories of his life to his children or even grandchildren. Perhaps he will sigh, then, because he'll be reflecting on his lost youth.
Perhaps he will sigh because he knows that he will never have had an opportunity to go back and try the road he did not choose the first time. He has already said that he would like to try that first road "another day," and yet "knowing how way leads on to way," it seems unlikely that he will ever be able to make his way back to this exact spot on the road (and, symbolically, in his life) and try a different option (13, 14).
Perhaps the speaker will sigh because he is going to change the story. He has told us that the two roads are essentially equal, that "the passing there / Had worn them really about the same" (9–10). They may look a bit different from one another aesthetically, but he says that about the same number of people have taken each road. However, in the final stanza, he admits that he will tell others that he "took the [road] less traveled" and that this choice "has made all the difference" (19, 20). Yet, we know that this is not true. He admits that, in the future, he is going to make it sound as though this decision, this choice, was far more monumental and consequential than it actually is. Maybe he will do this in order to inspire his audience with stories about making unique or brave choices. Maybe he will do this to make himself look brave. However, his sigh could indicate that he knows he will tell a fiction rather than the truth.
Why does the final stanza in "The Road Not Taken" start with a sigh?
"The Road Not Taken" can be seen as a poem which laments that we must make one permanent choice and then stick by it without having an option to change our mind and nullify our previous decision.
When the speaker decides what path he wants to choose, he realizes that there is no going back. His decision will have a major impact on what he experiences next, and he cannot nullify it. This knowledge causes him to experience a sense of regret and sadness, which is implied in the last stanza:
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.
When the speaker states that he will be talking about his decision "with a sigh," it is implied that the impossibility of taking that other road will have a negative impact on him and will lurk in the back of his mind for good. The title of the poem supports this claim because it does not refer to the road he takes. Instead, it refers to the road he does not take.
In the end, the speaker may want to tell us that it is not about the path we take in our life. Rather, it is about a sense of melancholy we have to deal with because of the impossibility of choosing more than one path at any given time.
Who is the speaker addressing with "a sigh" in Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken"?
In the last stanza of Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken,” the speaker says, “I shall be telling this with a sigh.” He also indicates that it will be in far into the future when he will tell of his choice to take “the one less traveled by.” Many people identify with the poem as meaning anyone who takes a chance to do things differently than the norm and succeeds. They will sigh when they look back at that major decision and know that it was the right one.
There is a theory that Frost wrote about the “sigh” in reference to his close friend, Edward Thomas, who some believe is the subject of the poem. Edward Thomas was an American writer who befriended Robert Frost in England around the beginning of World War I. The two inspired each other’s writing. Edward Thomas left his home in America and moved to England to write. He eventually won prizes for his writing. Frost and Thomas planned a life of writing and farming but circumstances intervened. When Frost shared his poem, Thomas reacted poorly even though Frost told his friend that, “the sigh was a mock sigh, hypocritical for the fun of the thing.” Thomas’ reaction to the last stanza of the poem might have pushed him to enlist in World War I where he was killed.
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