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Paper Topic:

Firelight, a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Two roads diverged in a wood , and I - / I took the one less traveled by And that has made all the difference (lines 18-20 , this is not the ultimate focus of the poem 's title and is not how this particular stanza even begins . Indeed , the speaker begins the final stanza by saying I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence (lines 16-7 , indicating remorse , regret , and certainly considerable reminiscing about the decision between the two paths . In fact , his sigh coupled with his dismay and doubt

of his ever coming back to attempt taking the other path insinuate that more than his decision making a significant difference in the speaker 's life is the knowledge that a different decision could have been made . While the poem states that this decision is incredibly important and has made all the difference this is also refuted by the poem : the two paths are not described as being particularly different and are actually noted for their similarities , and the speaker still regrets not being able to take both paths . Further , the other path would also have had effects on the speaker 's life , and there is no way for the reader to know how the other path would have affected the speaker , if it would have been exactly the same , or if there would have been a similarly significant but different result . Indeed , for a poem often used to encourage people to go against the grain and make decisions to take The Road Not Travelled ' the poem is also significantly referring to the path which was literally not taken by the speaker , thereby showing the equal importance and significance between the two paths

Robert Frost 's The Road Not Taken ' is often misunderstood , and that is precisely...
