Page 1 :
The Road Not Taken Class 9 English Poem 1, The Road Not Taken Poem Introduction, In the poem – ‘The Road Not Taken’, the road symbolizes our life. The poet says that the path, that we don’t choose in our life is the road not taken. He describes his feelings about that, choice that he had left in the past. The path which we have chosen, decides our future, our, destination. The important message that the poet wants to give is that the choice that we make, has an impact on our future and if we make a wrong choice, we regret it but cannot go back on, it. So, we must be wise while making choices., The Road Not Taken Summary, The poet says that once, he was walking down the road and reached a fork. He could walk over, one of the paths only. He took time to choose the right path. He inspected them to decide, which was a better option and then chose the one which seemed less walked over. He kept the, other one for some other day although he knew that he would never get the chance to walk, over it. He would go further on the chosen path and not get a chance to go back on it. As he, walked on the chosen path, he realized that both the paths were similar. He felt that his future, depended on the choice that he made., The Road Not Taken Question Answers, 1. Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?, A. The traveller finds himself standing on a fork in the path. He is in a problem as he must, choose one path and is unable to decide which one to choose., 2. Discuss what these phrases mean to you., (i) a yellow wood, A. ‘Yellow wood’ refers to the forest which has withering leaves as in the season of autumn. It, represents a world full of aging people., (ii) it was grassy and wanted wear, A. It means that the path had a lot of grass on it. This means that it had not been walked over, by many people. It had to be worn out by the steps of the people who walked on it., (iii) the passing there, A. It means that when he walked over the path that he had chosen., (iv) leaves no step had trodden black, A. It means that no one had walked over the leaves as they were still green. If they had been, walked over, they would have turned black., (v) how way leads on to way, A. It means that as we walk on a path, we come across more options and make choices further., We keep on walking ahead on that way., 3. Is there any difference between the two roads as the poet describes them, (i) in stanzas two and three?, A. The two paths were similar. In the beginning, the poet felt that one of them was grassy and, had not been walked over by many people, but when he walked on it for some distance, he, realized that it was like the other road., (ii) in the last two lines of the poem?, A. Here, again the poet talks of his initial decision when he thought that the roads were different, and chose the one that had been walked over by a lesser number of people.

Page 2 :
Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow in one or two lines., “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,, And sorry I could not travel both, And be one traveller, long I stood, And looked down one as far as I could, To where it bent in the undergrowth;”, (a) Name the poem and the poet of these lines., Answer.-The above lines have been taken from the poem The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost., (b) Why does the poet feel ‘sorry’?, Answer.-The poet feels sorry that he can’t travel on both the roads diverging in the forest before, him., (c) Where do the two roads diverge in?, Answer.-The two roads diverge in the wood where the leaves have turned yellow in the autumn., (d) What is the mood of the poet in these lines?, Answer.-The mood of the poet appears to be serious and pensive., (e) What does the ‘yellow wood’ mean?, Answer.- ‘Yellowwood’ means that the leaves have turned yellow because of the autumn season., (f) Why does the poet stand long? OR, ‘… long I stood’. What did the speaker do while standing for a long time?, Answer.-The poet stands long because he was in a dilemma about which road to take., 2., “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,”, Extra Questions:, (a) How was the other road?, Answer. – The other road was as fair and beautiful as the first one., (b) Why did the second road present a better claim than the first?, Answer. – The second road presented a better claim as it was still grassy and had not been used, by many travellers., (c) What is the rhyme scheme of the given lines?, Answer. – The rhyme-scheme of these lines is ab, aa, b., (d) What does the poet mean by ‘as just as fair’?, Answer. –‘ As just as fair’ means that the second road was just as beautiful as the first one., (e) How do you understand the expression ‘grassy and wanted wear’?, Answer. – The second road was grassy and green with its grass was not crushed and worn by the, steps of the travellers., 3. ‘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.”

Page 3 :
Questions :, (a) How did both the roads lie?, Answer. – Both the roads laid there with their leaves and grass not crushed by the steps of the, travellers, (b) Why did the poet leave the first road?, Answer. – The poet left the first road in the hope that he would travel on it on another day., (c) Why did the poet suffer from a doubt?, Answer. – The poet doubted if he would ever come back to the same place to walk on the road, that he had left for another day., (d)Who does ‘both’ refer to?, Answer. – `Both’ refers to the two roads that lay in front of the poet., (e)Why does the poet doubt his coming back?, Answer. – The poet doubts his coming back because he knows his chosen road will lead to, another road and he would go so far from the first road that he would not be able to come back, to it.