Viola
How do you interpret "wanted wear" from The Road Not Taken? Hi everyone, hope you're doing well! I'm wondering how do you interpret "wanted wear" from the poem The Road Not Taken? Be great to hear your opinions if you could share. Thanks in advance for any help.
Jun 8, 2020 4:30 AM
Answers · 9
1
Hello Viola! The poet is talking about the path being "grassy" which means the grass was growing and seemed lush. If a path is grassy it means that it hasn't been walked on much because when a path is well used the grass dies from being walked on and the path becomes plain sand or dirt. So in the poem, the path is grassy and "wanting wear" meaning the path wants people to walk on it because it hasn't been walked on much. I hope that helps!
June 8, 2020
1
I trust you mean literally. Although he says the paths were worn about the same, the one he took seemed grassy, as in the grass had grown, not so worn down by feet. The path we took was as if it wanted wear. Needed more wearing down by more people travelling down it. . Not a Frost expert. Just a guess. If you mean, what is the figurative interpretation, then you need someone more than me.
June 8, 2020
Hi Michael, Thank you for sharing some references regarding this phrase and the poem! I'll have a look at it! Thank you for your help. :))
June 9, 2020
Hello Da'Jon, Thank you so much for sharing your understanding of the poem! It really helps me understand a step further.
June 9, 2020
To "want" can also mean to be lacking something or to display an absence of something, rather than only having the meaning of to desire. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/wanting The poem is sweet, and tricky. There's a long, rambling and perhaps insightful commentary on it at https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/09/11/the-most-misread-poem-in-america/
June 8, 2020
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