Analysis of “The Road Not Taken” and “When Death Comes”
There is self-reflection in the poem “The Road Not Taken” through the voice of the speaker regarding the choices he made in life. These are the choice, which leads him to the road less taken. The persona is aware that the choices made during youth are influencer of the future like when he says “For fear it would make me conservative when old.” The speaker is aware that the choices made are deterrent to future choices and once made there is no possibility for turning back. In the poem ‘When Death Comes’ by Mary Oliver, there is no sadness or concern. It lacks a supernatural destination and takes the opinion that in life there are lessons to learn and transform life. This makes it different from Frosts poem, which has a religious opinion with there being some defining power in life dependant on the road taken. Therefore, while “the Road Not Taken” produces a voice of wisdom and experience in the opinions about the world, “When Death Comes” talks in a child like voice that possesses the curiosity of wanting to learn more about the world.
The literal depiction is that of a traveler along a path within “yellow woods” and he finds divergence “two roads diverged”. The speaker is unaware of what each of the roads has in the end and views both of them as “just fair” since they seemed equally used by saying that “the passing there/Had worn them really about the same.” This is a point where he realizes that he has to make a decision of the path to take. However, the speaker is not so happy with the choice he has to make since no travels of either paths ever came back to tell the tales about the paths. He chooses to take the road “less traveled by” and that is what made all the difference in his life. He wonders what difference taking the other path would make in his life. On contrary, Oliver presents her poem through a conversational tone by use of striking images and hope for transforming life in a natural circle. This creates a different attitude to the first poem, which claims of no alternative once a person makes a decision. That is an input from an experienced view, while in the curiosity of a child devoid of experiences, there is a chance for learning and allows the entry into the depths of the need for knowledge: “I want to step through the door full of curiosity; wondering: what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness”.
The poem uses the road symbolically to express the reality in life. It has some religious connotation to it with the option for choosing one of the provided paths and eventually taking the one rarely taken just like in religious teachings. In my opinion, the narrator is not happy about the fact that he has to take one of the roads. He wishes he could take both when he says he knows that he “could not travel both.” It shows some sort sympathy, regarding the situation he faces and in a broader angle, he is sympathetic about the human life since people must always make decisions in their lives. he knows that the choice he makes holds the differences in life as the roads have a representation of nature and literal paths. At the same instance of symbolic representation, there is the significance of the decisions the narrator made. In my opinion, Olivers’ poem has a chance for creating a new life from what the past decision could not deliver. It is full of hope regarding renewal as part of having a second chance. While the other poem has a closed opinion regarding the passing of time, saying it offers no second option for reversing decisions, “When Death Comes” is of different opinion as it disregards the effect of time in life “and I look upon time as no more than an idea, and I consider eternity as another possibility”. That shows that in life there are possible changes for past decisions to create a different life from what existed in the beginning.
The narrator is okay with the decisions he made and it does not depress him that he made the choice of taking the road rarely taken. This comes at the end of the poem and shows in his mood presenting his present situation. All his concerns seem as mere lamentations of the complex aspects of life. He understands that life is indeed short and it is impossible for a single traveler to travel down several roads on a single occasion. Just the same way, a person cannot make two choices on one account. It is always possible to make just a single decision for a situation and that produces its own consequences. He knows that the choice he made is what defined his present state of life and that it was the best he could do since the taking of the less taken road negated his possibility for taking the other road. He was keen in making his choice because he thought “And looked down one as far as I could” and that gladdens his heart because he managed to make a choice that brought a difference in his life. That is the option he had for molding his future that he lives as he “sighs” without knowledge of the way his life would be had he taken the other road (Frost 24). The narrator in “When Death Comes” does not want to take one direction. He wants to life to its fullest with knowledge of everything that happens in the world and that makes life a learning process for him. He knows that death comes suddenly and needs to find him prepared so he has the chance for satiating all his curiosity unlike the narrator in Frosts’ poem having limited options. To her everyone moves “toward silence, and each body a lion of courage, and something precious to the earth.” That leaves the option to each individual for creating the best before the time of their deaths.
For the speaker in the poem the “Road Not Taken,” made his choice as he felt that by taking the option he chose his life would have a difference. By the end of the day, he confirms that the road he took, “the one less traveled by, has made all the difference.” This is a voice of content with the choice made years ago since he is not mentioning any negative aspects of his choice. Instead, he is able to see the difference his life faced because of his lifetime choice. This is contrary to the input of Oliver because she feels that life is beautiful and should be lived to the full since it people have the chance of making the best out of it when she says, “I think of each life as a flower, as common as a field daisy”.
Work Cited
Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost: A Lively Learning Guide. Sunnyvale, Calif: Shmoop University. (2010): 24. Internet resource.
