Extended Metaphors In The Road Not Taken

In “The Road Not Taken”, extended metaphor depicts a crossroad, thus elucidating the choices you make now will affect the rest of your life. The poem seems to be only talking about a simple fork in the road, but that fork represents the challenging choices we make in life. The road branches off and the author is sad that he can not travel both, because he knows that he has to chose. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/ And sorry I could not travel both” (1-2). The poet establishes the roads as splitting. The word “diverging” could also refer to the man in the story's feelings, because he is conflicted about which way to travel. The word “sorry” further supports the man's unwillingness to chose a path. The setting is described as a “yellow wood”. This is important because it alludes to autumn when the

The fork in the road represents that in life we all must make choices however difficult they may be. In the poem the man is troubled greatly about which path he will take. “I doubted if I should ever come back./ I shall be telling this with a sigh”(15-16). The use of the word “sigh” emphasizes how the man feels about his choice. This could refer to how he is relaxed now that he feels that he has chosen the right one. Also he doubts he will ever return which emphasizes the finality of his choice. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--/I took the one less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference” (18-20). The poet repeats his line of “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” to emphasize the two different timelines of his life splitting before him. The words “less traveled by” create the image that he is an outsider, and that his life is unique. By saying that it has made “All the difference” the author acknowledges the impact his choices have made upon himself, although he does not say for better or worse. By establishing the “Road less traveled” as the unusual decision ,the author extends the metaphor by describing the monumental impact it has had on his