Poem Analysis

​Mood, Tone, Theme: Poem Analysis

By Jazmine N Pettaway

The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost

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—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Multiple Choice

What is the mood of this poem?

• Contemplative

• Joyful

• Somber

• Tense

Multiple Choice

What is the tone of the authors writing and word choices?

• Playful

• Formal

• Indecisive

• Sarcastic

Multiple Choice

What is the theme (central idea) of the poem?

• Love

• Making Choices

• Loss

• Justice

Multiple Choice

Which quotation best conveys a tone of indecision?

• "Long I stood"

• "To where it bent in the undergrowth"

• "Oh, I kept the first for another day!"

• "And sorry I could not travel both"