Lyric Poem · Life
The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost · 1916
1Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
2And sorry I could not travel both
3And be one traveler, long I stood
4And looked down one as far as I could
5To where it bent in the undergrowth;
6Then took the other, as just as fair,
7And having perhaps the better claim,
8Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
9Though as for that the passing there
10Had worn them really about the same,
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost — quilloak.com/poems/the-road-not-taken
Quick facts
- Poem
- The Road Not Taken
- Poet
- Robert Frost
- Published
- 1916
- Length
- 20 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Narrative Poem
- Themes
- Life, Inspirational
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 20 lines · 4 quintains
- Line length
- Mostly 9-syllable lines.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Robert Frost1874–1963
- Source record
- WikisourceThe Road Not Taken by robert-frost, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1916
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 e8b3a33ffaa632ea…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.