A Road Taken by Both
... Farley’s poems are similar. Robert Frost’s poem takes place on a road that turns into a path in the undergrowth. Blanche Farley’s poem also takes place on a road. In Robert Frost’s poem the speaker talks about the roads that lead into the undergrowth farther than the speaker can see. Blanche Farley also uses the word undergrowth. Instead of following a path to the undergrowth, the speaker in The Lover Not Taken wants to hide in it like it was a bush on the side of the road: “Wanting to hide in the undergrowth”(Farley4). In Robert Frost poem the speaker talks about the roads that split into two different paths which are directed by the yellow wood. One of the paths for the speaker is going to make all the difference while the other will not. In Blanche Farley’s poem the new guy that the speaker is thinking on having an affair with is the representation of yellow: “This new guy is as smooth as yellow wood”(Farley5). In both poems the yellow wood represents what the speakers main plot to the poems are. Now Robert Frost and Blanche Farley both go on to explain more deeply what the yellow wood is explaining, or the plot of both their individual poems. Robert Frost’s poem, “ The Road Not Taken”, the speaker has a decision to make. What path or road to follow that is best suited for the speaker. So then years later the speaker looks back realizing that was the best road for him. In Blanche Farley’s poem the speaker’s decision is whether or not to cheat on Jack with a new, smooth blond guy. The speaker thinks of the possibilities of her lover now finding out: “But then who would know the difference”(Farley20). So the speaker rushes home to the blond and has an affair. In both of the short poems “The Road Not Taken” and “The Lover Not Taken” the speakers had a life altering decision to make. In Robert Frost’s poem it was which road or path to follow that would best suit the speaker. The speaker went down the path less traveled and made all the difference. In Blanche Farley’s poem the speaker’s decision is to have an affair with a new smooth guy. Each decision made by both speakers of the poems “The Road Not Taken” and “The Lover Not Taken” is their own choice. There was no conflicting material that would keep them away from their decision. Both speakers made the best decisions for what they wanted personally. In both of the poems the authors touch on how each decision they have made will be talked about for years. In Robert Frost’s poem choosing the right path is the speakers long term affect and how it will be talked about: “I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence”(Frost17). In Blanche Farley’s poem the long term affect is her speaker having an affair and how it will be talked about: “Oh she turned with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence”(Farley17). At the end of “The Road Not Taken” the speaker talks about the difference the road he has chosen has made. Also at the end of “The Lover Not Taken” the speaker talks about how nobody would know the difference if she cheated on the man she is seeing now. Blanche Farley even uses a similar title “The Lover No...