1、the road not taken by Robert Frost 未选择的路Robert FrostFrost was born in San Francisco,where he spent his first eleven years.After the death of his father,a journalist,he moved with his mother and sister to eastern Massachusetts near his paternal grandparents.He wrote his first poems while a student at
2、 Lawrence High School,from which he graduated as co-valedictorian with the woman he was to marry,Elinor Miriam White.He entered Dartmouth College in the fall of 1892 but stayed for less than a term,returning home to teach school and to work at various jobs,including factory-hand and newspaperman.he
3、and Elinor were married in December 1895.Both husband and wife taught school for a time,then in 1897 Frost entered Harvard College as a special student,remaining there just short of two years.He performed well at Harvard,but his health was uncertain and he rejoined his wife in Lawrence,where she was
4、 about to bear a second child.In October of 1900 he settled with his family on a farm just over the Massachusetts line in New Hampshire,purchased for him by his grandfather.There,over the next nine years,he wrote many of the poems that would make up his first published volumes.The Frost farm,where t
5、he family lived from 1900-1911.Nature and rural surroundings became for Frost a source for insights into deeper design of life.He once said:Literature begins with geography.Editions In 1912,he and his family moved to England,where he found a publisher for his first book of verse,A boys will(1913)In
6、1914,Frosts second book,North of Boston,was published by David Nutt.In 1915,Frost relocated his family to Franconia,New Hampshire.American editions of his first two poetry books were published by Henry Holt and Company.4 Pulitzer Prizes(普利策奖普利策奖)1923 Frost received Pulitzer Prize for New Hampshire.1
7、930 The Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Collected Poems and also received the Russell Loines Poetry Prize.1936 The Pulitzer Prize was awarded to A Further Range.1942 Frost was awarded his fourth Pulitzer for A Witness Tree.Writing FeaturesProfound meanings are hidden underneath the plain language and
8、simple form.(1)His poems mostly wrote about nature(influence from Wordsworth and Emerson)and New England landscape.(2)Deceptively simple style(reason for popular)(3)Symbolism(show his poems deep meaning)(4)He was likely to choose traditional forms for his poem,but the themes of his poems are mostly
9、modern.(In his poems,traditional elements and modern elements mingle together.)Thematic concernsGenerally Frost is considered a regional poet whose subject matters mainly focus on the landscape and people in New England.These thematic concerns include the terror and tragedy in nature,as well as its
10、beauty,and the loneliness and poverty of the isolated human being.Frost wrote many poems that investigate the basic themes of mans life:the individuals relationships to himself,to his fellow-man,to world,and to his God.Frost in Franconia,N.H.,1915 The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wo
11、od,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
12、them really about the same,And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black.Oh,I marked 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 wo
13、od,and I,I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.未选择的路 黄色的树林里分出两条路 可惜我不能同时去涉足 我在那路口久久伫立 我向着一条路极目望去 但我却选择了另外一条路 它荒草萋萋，十分幽寂 显得更诱人，更美丽 虽然在这两条小路上 都很少留下旅人的足迹 虽然那天清晨落叶满地 两条路都未经脚印污染 呵，留下一条路等改日再见 但我知道路径延绵无尽头 恐怕我难以再回返 也许多少年后在某一个地方 我将轻声叹息把往事回顾 一片森林里分出两条路 而我却选择了人迹更少的一条 从此决定了我一生的道路.
14、Analysis Everyone is a traveler,choosing the roads to follow on the map of their continuous journey,life.There is never a straight path that leaves one with but a sole direction in which to head.Regardless of the original message that Robert Frost had intended to convey,his poem,The Road Not Taken,h
15、as left its readers with many different interpretations.It is ones past,present and the attitude with which he looks upon his future that determines the shade of the light that he will see the poem in.In any case however,this poem clearly demonstrates Frosts belief that it is the road that one choos
16、es that makes him the man who he is.First Stanza Describes SituationFirst Stanza Describes Situation The poem consists of four stanzas.In the first stanza,the speaker describes his position.He has been out walking the woods and comes to two roads,and he stands looking as far down each one as he can
17、see.He would like to try out both,but doubts he could to that,so therefore he continues to look down the roads for a long time trying to make his decision about which road to take.Second Stanza Second Stanza Decides to Take Less-Traveled Road Decides to Take Less-Traveled Road The speaker had looked
18、 down the first one“to where it bent in the undergrowth,”and in the second stanza,he reports that he decided to take the other path,because it seemed to have less traffic than the first.But then he goes on to say that they actually were very similarly worn.The second one that he took seems less trav
19、eled,but as he thinks about it,he realizes that they were“really about the same.”Not exactly that same but only“about the same.”Third Stanza Continues Description of Roads Third Stanza Continues Description of Roads The third stanza continues with the cogitation (深思)about the possible differences be
20、tween the two roads.He had noticed that the leaves were both fresh fallen on them both and had not been walked on,but then again claims that maybe he would come back and also walk the first one sometime,but he doubted he would be able to,because in life one thing leads to another and time is short.R
21、obert Frosts Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening seems simple,but its nuanced(微妙的)phrase,And miles to go before I sleep,offers much about which to speculate.Fourth Stanza Two Tricky WordsFourth Stanza Two Tricky Words The fourth stanza holds the key to the trickiness of the poem:Those who interpret
22、 this poem as suggesting non-conformity take the word“difference”to be a positive difference.But there is nothing in the poem that suggests that this difference signals a positive outcome.The speaker could not offer such information,because he has not lived the“difference”yet.Questions1.Whats the sp
23、eakers initial response to the divergence of the two roads?He had a strong desire to try both of them.But he knows he“could not travel both”,so he boggled and hesitated for a long time.2.Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads.Which one does the speaker take.Similarities:They are both long journey and “no step had trodden black”in that morning.Differences:One road is flat and smooth,can be seen directly.Another road is“grassy and wanted wear”and seldom leaves footprints of travelers.He took the second one.
