Analysis

     I have chosen to compare two poems that concern themselves with a country road: The Road not Taken by Robert Frost and The Way Through the Woods by Rudyard Kipling. Frost's road is a grassy lane covered in fallen leaves whereas Kipling's road was a well used road that no longer exists. In both cases the road is a metaphor for a choice or an event in life.
     The two poems are structured quite differently. The Road not Taken has four stanzas of five lines, each with a rhyme scheme abaab. It is written in iambic tetrameter. The Way Through the Woods has a less formal structure with two long stanzas of twelve and thirteen lines. There is rhyme but it is not regular: abcbadeddada abcbadeddfdaa. The rhythm is unusual, predominately dactylic trimeter. Both poems do use rhythm and rhyme but they use them quite differently.
     Another way the poems differ is their use of imagery. Frost describes the road but nothing else in the environment. On the other hand, Kipling liberally illustrates his poem with images and brings the forest to life with ring doves, bagers, trout, otter and horses. Although both poems are set in the woods, Kipling's road is full of life.
     There are differences in the poems but their overall impression reads the same. Both use a road as a metaphor to convey their theme. In The Road not Taken the road could represent a career path, trusting in love or following a principle. The choice a person makes in any of those areas affect all the rest of his life. In The Way Through the Woods the road is a mark caused by something that happened long ago and its traces remain. The past event could be a trama or an inheritance the traces of which remain throughout life. The theme of both poems is pretty close to choices that people make will impact their entire lives.
     These are wonderful poems by famous poets. Each one uses slightly different poetic devices yet their themes are remarkably similar. Both poems arrive at the same point each having taken a slightly different path.