Question

how do lines 9-12 affect the meaning of the poem? a. the speaker admits that both roads were untraveled, revealing that the indecisive speaker never chose a road.

Answer 1

Lines 9-12 from Robert Frost's poem reflect the speaker's recognition of making a choice, understanding that decisions shape one's life and acknowledging the road not chosen.

Step-by-step explanation:

Lines 9-12 of Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken significantly impact the meaning of the poem by revealing that the speaker did indeed make a choice, contrary to what one option of the question suggests. The lines quote, 'And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.', indicate that while the roads were equally untraveled in the morning, the speaker acknowledges the improbability of returning to explore the other path. This admission highlights the theme of the importance of choices made in life and the roads we take, the impacts, and the reflection on the path not taken.

Answer 2

The lines 9-12 in Robert Frost's 'The Road Not Taken' reveal that both paths were equally untraveled, which adds to the poem's theme of the intricate nature of choices and life's uncertainty.

Step-by-step explanation:

The lines in question, lines 9-12 of Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken, affect the meaning of the poem by indicating that the two roads the speaker encounters are, in fact, equally untraveled, casting doubt on the common interpretation that the speaker chooses a path less taken by others. The lines read: "And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads to way, I doubted if I should ever come back." This revelation underscores the poem's theme about the complexity of choice and the unpredictability of life, regardless of the paths we take.