Poem+Comparison


 * 7. The Road Not Taken **

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, 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 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 wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.


 * 2. Carving A Name **

I wrote my name upon the sand, And trusted it would stand for aye; But, soon, alas! the refluent sea Had washed my feeble lines away.

I carved my name upon the wood, And, after years, returned again; I missed the shadow of the tree That stretched of old upon the plain.

To solid marble next, my name I gave as a perpetual trust; An earthquake rent it to its base, And now it lies, o'erlaid with dust.

All these have failed. In wiser mood I turn and ask myself, "What then?" If I would have my name endure, I'll write it on the hearts of men,

In characters of living light, Of kindly deeds and actions wrought. And these, beyond the touch of time, Shall live immortal as my thought.

** Both “The Road Not Taken” and “Carving my name” involve a sense of humanity. The theme of “The Road Not Taken” is about taking risk and finding the right choice for one to orient his life; humans intend to follow others and try to do what is easiest for them, though in order to succeed, own decision and choice is necessary in spite of how hard and painful it may be. “Carving my name” is about the importance of being remembered; the only way to be remembered is to carve the name on the heart, meaning that the impact one has on others is what really matters and only the hearts and memories can remember for eternity. These two poems do not really seem to have any connection, though if one observes them closely, the slight but wide relationship can be found. **


 *  “The Road Not Taken” has ABAAB rhyme scheme, whereas in “ Carving my name” only the the second and fourth lines rhyme. Each stanza contains five lines in “The Road Not Taken”, and four stanzas in total. In “Carving my name”, there are five stanzas with each one having four lines. **


 * Both poems use poetic devices to get their messages across the readers. They both have a decent amount of poetic devices used; alliteration is used several times in both of the poems, **
 * “ ...wanted wear...”, “...living light.”. Also, imagery can be found in both of them: “In leaves no step had trodden back”, “the refluent sea had washed my feeble lines away”. They both contain analogies, repetition, rhthym & rhyme … . However, compare to “Carving my name”, personification is rarely used in “The Road Not Taken”. Furthermore, metaphor is not used as often as it is in “Carving my name”. “The Road Not Taken” includes symbols; the two diverged roads symbolize the choices which humans have to pick in their lives. On the contrary, in “Carving my name”, symbols are not specified, for the poem is fairly straight forward. **


 *  The two poems do not seem to have much connection between each other. However, by analyzing closely and specifically, the significant relationship can be found. **