The Road Not Taken
By Jessica Li
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The Road Not Taken
• Two roads diverge in a yellow wood
• Two roads: The
crossroads of life,
the dilemma of
human decisionmaking.
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The Road Not Taken
• Two roads diverge in a yellow wood
• diverge: different
decisions lead to
different results
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The Road Not Taken
• Two roads diverge in a yellow wood
• in a yellow wood:
something that blocks
your vision; you feel
bewildered
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The Road Not Taken
• And sorry I could not travel both. And
be one traveler, long I stood
• travel both: I want to
keep both
● long I stood : It is hard
for me to make a
choice
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The Road Not Taken
• And look down one as far as I could to
where it bent in the undergrowth
• as far as I could: I
manage to envision
my future
● bent in the
undergrowth:there was
something I failed to figure
out
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The Road Not Taken
• Then took the other, as just as fair, and
perhaps having the better claim.
• as just as fair: The other
one is as good as the
previous one.
● the better claim: the
better appeal
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The Road Not Taken
• Then took the other, as just as fair, and
perhaps having the better claim.
as just as fair ( Fact)
the better claim (Opinion)
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The Road Not Taken
• Because it was grassy and wanted
wear
• wanted wear: lacked
walking / few people
ever walked on it
few people choose
this
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The Road Not Taken
• Though as for the passing there had
worn them really about the same
• the passing: the
passing people
● had worn them really
about the same: the
same number of people
ever walked on them
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The Road Not Taken
• And both that morning equally lay in
leaves no step had trodden black
• both equally lay in
leaves: both roads lay
(lie) with leaves
covering them
both roads can be a
good choice
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The Road Not Taken
• And both that morning equally lay in
leaves no step had trodden black
• no step had trodden
black: no leaves had
become black due to
people’s wear
I can’t see the
differences between them
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The Road Not Taken
• Oh, I kept the first for another day!
• I decided to go back to
the first road for another
day.
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The Road Not Taken
• Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
● way leads on to way:
a way will lead to another
/ there are crossroads
along the way
there is no way of
turning back
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The Road Not Taken
• I shall be telling this with a sigh
somewhere ages and ages hence:
• This is a reverse line
--- Somewhere ages
and ages hence, I shall
be telling this with
a sigh.
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The Road Not Taken
• I shall be telling this with a sigh
somewhere ages and ages hence:
• with a sigh: I may feel
regretful for not taking
the first road
I may feel regretful
for not doing something
I like
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The Road Not Taken
• I shall be telling this with a sigh
somewhere ages and ages hence:
• ages and ages: years after years
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The Road Not Taken
• Two roads diverge in a wood, and I--I took the less travelled by, and that has
made all the difference.
● the less travelled by: the road that few
people ever took/ the alternative job
● has made all the difference: has made
everything different/ I am what decision I
made
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Robert Frost
• March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963
• He never had a formal degree although he
enrolled at Harvard.
• He won 4 Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry
• Frost’s poems express
a sense of common humanity
(common humane nature).
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Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
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Nothing Gold Can Stay
∆ first green
---- new bud
---- youth
∆ is gold
---- is precious
∆ hue
---- color
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Nothing Gold Can Stay
∆ early leaf
--- new bud
∆ a flower
--- something precious and beautiful
∆ only so an hour
--- her beauty only lasts for a short time
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Nothing Gold Can Stay
∆ leaf(A) subsides to leaf (B)
--- leaf(A) means the new bud
--- leaf(B) means a normal leaf
∆ subsides to N
---- goes down to
---- sinks to
---- declines to
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Nothing Gold Can Stay
∆ Eden sank to grief,
--- Eden means pleasure or joys
∆ dawn goes down to day
--- dawn means the early time, the youth
---- day means the day time, the rest years
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Robert Frost
• Frost’s poems have appealed to/ draw /
attract generations of readers.
---- His poems are popular with people of all
ages.
●
Frost’s poems are mostly descriptions of
rural life and everyday events that explore
deep aspects of human experience.
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Robert Frost
•
John F. Kennedy said, “ he has
bequeathed (left behind) his nation a body
of (a large number of) imperishable
(durable) verse (poems) from which
Americans will forever gain joy and
understanding.
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Robert Frost
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Edward Thomas
• Edward Thomas liked to choose routes at
random.
--- He took the road at will.
● Yet, afterward, he would always complain
that they could have enjoyed (過去推測)
even lovelier scenery if it had not been for
(若非= but for/ without) his previous choice.
---- He wasn’t satisfied with what he had
enjoyed and believed what he didn’t get
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was even better.
Grammar
• could/ might/ would + have PP 過去推測
EX1. You could have stopped the tragedy
if you had warned him.
EX 2. The ground is wet, so it might have
rained this morning.
EX 3. Without restoration, the cultural
relics would have collapsed years ago.
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Grammar
• If it were not for / Were it not for N, S+
would /should/could /might +VR
若非----(與現在相反的假設)
• If it had not been for/ Had it not been
for N, S + would /should /could /might +
have PP.
若非----(與過去相反的假設)
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Grammar
EX1. 若非我父母的鼓勵，我就不會有上台
的勇氣。
If it had not been for/ Had it not been
for my parents’ encouragement, I would
not have had the courage to perform on
stage.
EX 2. 如果沒有救生衣，我早就淹死了。
If it had not been for/ Had it not been
for the life jacket, I would have got
drowned.
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Grammar
EX 3. 如果沒有電腦，許多工作都無法執行。
If it were not for / Were it not for
computers, many tasks couldn’t get done.
EX4. 若非學測，高三生壓力不會這麼大。
If it were not for / Were it not for APE,
senior students wouldn’t suffer from so
much pressure.
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About the Poem
• The narrator, also a traveler, needed to
choose which way to take when he was
standing at a crossroads.
• In the end, he selected the seemingly less
trodden/ traveled one. In fact, the number
of the passing there is really about the
same.
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About the Poem
• Since there was little possibility of going
back for the other one, he could not help
but imagine (= could not help imagining)
himself telling his choice-making tale (=a
long story) with a “sigh” many years later.
• Imagine (V )+ Ving
EX. Many youngsters have been so
accustomed to their parents’ care that they
can’t imagine living by themselves some
day.
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About the Poem
• Frost’s sensitive (敏銳的) poetic narrative
may arouse(= stir) great empathy
(=sympathy) in many of us when we recall
the past decision-making experience in
our life.
---- Our life is full of alternatives, waiting
for us to choose from.
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About the Poem
• When in distress, we tend to look back on
(回顧) the moments when we needed to
make important (= major) choices, like
choosing career, the one to spend life with
etc.
• In effect (= in reality), once we make a
choice, we have to let go of all the other
alternatives because we can just take one
road at a time.
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About the Poem
• Every choice will lead us to a different
series of other choices, making it
impossible for us to go back.
You got married but let go your
dream of becoming a rock star.
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Grammar
• lead (up) to N
result in N
bring about N
give rise to N
EX. 不同的選擇會造就不同的人生。
Different choices lead to different lives.
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Grammar
• lead to 地方 通往--EX. The path leads to the camping site.
● lead up to N 在---之前
In the days leading up to graduation I did
very little.
● a series of N 一連串的--EX. A strange series of events led (up) to
the murder.
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Grammar
• make N possible = realize N
EX. The advanced technology made a space
trip possible.
● make it possible to VR
EX. 3-D printers make it possible to
assemble a station in outer space.
EX. 持續不斷的努力就可能實現夢想。
Continuous efforts make your dream
possible.
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About the Poem
• The poem can also be an inspiration for
those who need to make important (=major)
decisions about their futures.
• For example, a student might stand at a
crossroads, such as choosing which subject
to major in or which college to attend.
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Grammar
• major in N 主修
EX. I was fond of archaeology but my
parents asked me to major in English,
which was contradictory to my original plan.
● major (N)
Victor is an engineering major.
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About the Poem
• Later in life, there will be career paths to
choose as well. Whatever problems we
are confronted with (=are faced with) and
whatever our choices are, it will, at any
rate(=anyway), be no use regretting any
choice that has been made.
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Career Path
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Grammar
• Whatever +N
EX. Everyone should be treated equally
whatever races they are.
● be confronted with N = encounter N
EX. Whatever difficulties you are
confronted with, you must solve them
instead of escaping from them.
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Grammar
• be no use + Ving
EX. 覆水難收。
It is no use crying over spilt milk.
EX. 光抱怨而不採取行動是沒有用的。
It is no use complaining instead of
taking actions.
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About the Poem
• The final choice is ours, and ours alone.
It is yourself that can determine your
life. Once you make a decision, you have
to face the consequences.
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