8/14/2019 08 Eng Poetry Analysis 19andreaq

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English Poetry Mock Q&A

Today, I will be interviewing the talented poet, Robert Frost. Robert Frost was born inSan Francisco on March 26th 1874, in 1885, his family moved back to New England.

There, he briefly attended Dartmouth and Havard colleges. In 1912, for a short while, hemoved to England where his poetry was well-received and he met 2 other poets: WilliamButler Yeats and Ezra Pound. His first poetry collection appeared in 1913 called ABoys Will and his final collection In theClearing appeared in 1962. But today, we arehere to talk about his poem The Road Not Taken

So, the main metaphor of the poem, The Road Not Taken is two paths - why didyou choose to use this as your main metaphor and not others?Well, paths and roads usually symbolise choice, journeys and passages of time which Ithink is fitting as this poem is about making life-affecting choices. Both paths in the poem

dont look promising but then again, they dont look conflicting and you dont know whatlies ahead of each - just like life.

I see, what was your biggest inspiration to write this poem the way you wrote it?If you are talking about my writing style, I like classical poets - especially Horace. Imalso known for being very direct and straightforward in my writing. I dont like beatingaround the bush as they say. However, for more elaborate poems with more complextopics, I prefer a more complex style. Those things may influence me but I think thebiggest influence for my writing is from my home, New England. Especially Vermont andNew Hampshire. I found inspiration in the landscape and the mannerisms and speech ofthe people. The Road Not Taken was also influenced by this, I suppose, as I am writingabout two paths that diverge into a wood.Speaking of landscapes and the speech and mannerisms of people, you oftenwrite these two side by side in your poem which is usually associated with a typeof Romantic poetry - is there a meaning behind writing like this?Actually, there is. The type of Romantic poetry you are associating me with is the typewritten in the 1800s with England and the United States. However, I am not one to writethat sort of poetry in which, the poets think that people could live in harmony with nature.I, on the other hand, think the purpose of nature and people are two completely differentthings and that their purposes in life are completely different. I often use the themeSignificant Toil where people are nourished and sustained from nature which is whatyou can see in the poem The Road Not Taken.

There is one line near the start of the poem that says And both that morningequally lay, In leaves no step had trodden back but then, at the end of the poem itsays Two roads diverged in a wood and I -- I took the one less travelled by -what is the meaning behind this?I think we all know in life that once we make decisions, we cant turn back the clock andchange it. Even if we regret the decisions we made. In fact, its even a line in my poemthat tells us this: Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come

back And if you saw the line before that, I shall be telling this with a sigh it shows thatsometimes, we make decisions we regret and are ashamed of.

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Not all poems rhyme, why did you decide to make this one rhyme?I think this made the poem not as sad as it seemed but then again, it isnt a very cheerful

poem. I also made certain words rhyme in a certain way like wood and stood andhence and difference - by doing this, I think it gave people a sort of feeling as to whatsort of mood I was trying to evoke from them.

Could you explain more about mood: what sort of emotions were you trying toevoke from us, readers, when we read your poem?Im trying to evoke a sense of weariness and a sort of realization that when we makedecisions, we sometimes only have one shot at doing so and even though we maysometimes make the wrong decision and regret it, thats life.