Explanatory Note on ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost

Synopsis of ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost

Once Robert Frost was confronted with a situation which required him to make a choice during his journey to a destination. At times in life, making a choice or decision is an uphill task, if there is more than one option and all the options seem to be luring. The poet had to choose one of the two roads in order to reach his destination. After a little toing and froing, he decided to choose the road which as less travelled and therefore, covered with grass. Initially, he had doubt if he would be able to reach his goal and come back safely. Then, he desired to go different from the common run of mill, and gathered courage to take the challenge of treading the less trodden path. In later life, the poet Robert Frost had no regrets for his decision. His choice made all the difference in his life. If he walked down the much travelled road, he would have to share the fate of the common lot. His choice was influenced by none but his mind and his insight into future. Therefore, the poet was happy about his decision. 

The kernel of the poem “The Road Not Taken” is that we face mental conflict while taking a decision at some or the other turn in human life, and that the way to get out of that mental conflict is only the right decision. To be facing mental conflict when time and situation require us to choose between two options is an integral part of human existence.   

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Relevance of the Title ‘The Owl’ – Edward Thomas

The title seems irrelevant, if judged on the surface. It is because the owl is neither a character in the poem nor related to the basic theme of the poem, which is the necessity of ‘food, fire and rest’. However, the title is symbolically significant. In the poem, the owl stands for the poet’s conscience and the owl’s cry symbolizes the poet’s inner voice. The owl’s cry brings a dramatic twist in the poem. It throws focus on the heart-rending suffering of soldiers and the poor through the poet’s feelings for them. The owl’s cry reveals the humanitarian trait of the poet’s character. It also helps establish the fact that the human conscience is a great teacher. So undeniably the title of the poem ‘The Owl’ is apt and relevant to the core.   

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Is Jerome K. Jerome a good packer?

Jerome K. Jerome the author of ‘Packing’ claims to be an expert and efficient packer. He boasts, “Packing is one of those many things that I feel I know more about than any other person living.” A close reading of the story proves him to be a worse packer. The author finds the boots outside after he has packed and strapped the bag. He opens the bag and packs the boots in. A ‘horrible idea’ invades him the moment he is about to close the bag. He turns everything out of the bag to check if he has packed his toothbrush. After searching the bag with a fine-toothed comb, he finds the toothbrush inside a book. The he repacks the bag only to find that he has packed his tobacco pouch in it. Then he has to re-open the bag and repacks it once again. Such a careless manner of packing the bag bears evidence to the fact that the author is an inefficient packer.  

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