A Formalist Approach to Robert Frost’s The Road Not
Taken
There
are many ways to analyze the poetry, one of the approach is using the formalist
theory. As discussed
in An Introduction to Literary Studies (1999), the
formalist concerned about literary structure; using phonemic device not the
phonetic content. Therefore, using the formalist theory will help to analyze
the elements of the poem in order to look its effect in the meaning of the
poem. The poem that will be analyze using formalism approach is “The road Not
Taken” poem by Robert Frost.
The
first lets take a look from the speaker of the poem. As I see that the speaker
“I” in the poem “The Road Not Taken”, is in the middle of journey somewhere in
a wood and stands between two roads that he had to choose. The evident that
show the speaker see the two roads in front of him, when he writes “two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” The speaker had to stand
and choosing which is road he had to take, so this poem is kind of a Lyric Poem
which express the thoughts, or feeling to the poet. Hence the tone of the poem
can directly see that there is a confusion and hesitation in order to which
road to choose. It is makes the reader nerve whether the speaker choose the
right road for himself.
Besides,
the other characteristics like imagery, symbol, overstatement, sound, and the
stanzaic structure are given a meaning to the poem. The using of imagery in
this poem is more concrete than abstract and mostly visual. The imagery in the
poem can be seen in the first stanza and the second stanza. The evident is when
the speaker writes “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” in
line 1 and “Because it was grassy and wanted wear” in line 8. The word of
“yellow wood” and “it was grassy” those are show the verbal imagery for the
poem. It shows the concrete representation of the object that describe in the poem.
After that, I found that “The Road Not Taken” is
symbolized the choice in life. For the first stanza, the reader just know the
choice that the speaker had to make is only about the road choice. However the
reader will know that the choice is not only about the simple choice of the
road in the last stanza. The speaker believes that his choice will be affect to
his future. It will make a difference in his life somehow. Therefore the choice
of the road symbolized any choice in life that affects the future. In
this poem there is repetition and overstatement. The repetition can be seen in
the fourth stanza line 18 “Two roads
diverged in a wood” and overstatement can be seen in line 17 “Somewhere ages and ages hence.” It means the speaker
wants to show how the choice can effects his life in the future.
Robert Frost also uses various of sound in this poem
in order to emphasize some sections of the poem. He uses alliteration,
assonance, rhyme, rhythm. The alliteration which is the repeated of consonant
sounds can be seen in the poem with the use of
“r,” “t,” and “s” in all stanza. In the first and third
stanza dominantly use alliteration “r” and “t,” in the second and fourth stanza
use alliteration “r” and “s.” It makes the sound of the poem rough.
There
is a various assonance which is the repeatation of vowel sounds in the poem.
The “Road Not Taken” poem use asonance such as “u,” and “o.” We can see
assonance “u” in the words “two,” “wood,” “stood,” “looked,” “took,” it means
that the speaker see the two roads in the wood and he stood to look which is
the road that he should choose. Next is the “o” sound in the words “sorry,”
“not,” “both,” “for,” “morning,” “no,” “trodden” it means that the speaker
emphasize that he can not choose both roads and finally he choose one of the
road that person rarely passing there.
In
the poem there are two kinds of rhyme, feminine
rhyme and masculine rhyme. The
feminine rhyme can be seen if the final syllabel of a rhymed word is
unstressed. The masculine rhyme can be seen if the final syllabel is stressed.
However this poem uses the masculine rhyme, because the final syllabel in the
poem is stressed. The poem consists of four stanzas with five lines each and
the rhyme scheme of this poem is ABAAB-CDCCD-EFEEF-GHGGH. For example, take a
look at the first stanza:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, (A)
And sorry I could not travel both (B)
And be one traveler, long I stood (A)
And looked down one as far as I could (A)
To where it bent in the undergrowth; (B)
From
the example above we can know this poem has 9 syllabel each line and the rhythm
of the poem is basically iambic, which means that there is one unstressed
syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The most common use of iambs in
poetry is in pentameter, which means that there are five “feet,” or units of
stressed and unstressed syllables, in the poem. But the poem of “The Road Not
Taken” is in iambic tetrameter, which
means that there are only four feet (tetra = four). Besides there is also the
other kinds of rhythm that is anapestic, which means that there are two
unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. We see the example lines
:
To where | it bent| in the un|dergrowth
Each
of the four feet in this line is iambic except for the third, because both “in”
and “the” are unstressed syllables, making the rhythm an anapest. Besides Robert
Frost uses monosyllable line in this poem, they are useful and not waste the
space in the poem. We see some of the words such as “sigh,” and “ages” convey
hesitation about the choose of the road. There is one caesura used in fourth
stanza line 3, which reads, “Two roads
diverged in a wood, and I─”. The caesura function is to emphasis on “I.” The
speaker “I” show the feeling of hesitation, uncertainty about the choice, then
it will related to the next line “Took the one less traveled by” it explain that
finally the speaker make his decision.
The
stanzaic structure in every poem is important, because it can help to reveal
the feeling and the place of the poem. The lines of the poem assosiated the
road in the wood. The poem’s lines also reveal the confusion feeling.
After
analyzing “The Road Not Taken” poem by Robert Frost with the formalist
approach, we can see that the formalist approach can applies well to the poem.
Some elements of the poem use in this poem such as imagery, symbol, tone,
overstatement, sounds, and also stanzaic structure. They are important to get
the meaning of the poem. The meaning of the poem related to our life which is sometimes
in the life we face some choice that we had to choose. In this poem, the idea
is using the nature (wood) to explain that there are two roads in the wood, one
of the road is often pass by person and the others rarely pass by person. The
speaker in the end choose the road that rarely pass by person. It is related in
our life, sometimes we also choose the choise that other person rarely choose. However
the choice that we choose can effect the future. In conclusion, the different
ways can reveal the meaning of the poem, and the formalist approach is one of
the possible choice.
Works cited
Klarer,
Mario. An Introduction to Literary Studies. London: Routledge. 1999.
The Road Not Taken
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─
Took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
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