Analysis and Comparison of the Poems “IF” by R.Kipling and “The Road Not Taken” by R.Frost

Analysis and Comparison of the Poems

“IF” by R.Kipling and

“The Road Not Taken” by R.Frost

Rossosh

2019

Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………..3

• Aims and goals
• Methods of research work
• Hypothesis

          Main body………………………………………………………..4

1. Analysis of the poem “IF” by R.Kipling ………………………..4

• History of creating a poem
• The subject of the poem
• Poetic devices: form, structure, style, tone
• Symbols

2. Analysis of the poem “The Road Not Taken” by R.Frost ………8

• History of creating a poem
• The subject of the poem
• Poetic devices: form, structure, style, tone
• Symbols

3.  Comparison of the poems………………………………………14

Conclusion…………………………………………………………17

       The list of the used literature…………………………………….18

Introduction

   Poetry might be defined as a language that says more and says it more intensely than ordinary language does. Poetic language is employed on different occasions to say quite different kinds of things. Therefore, poetry is language of different uses. While novels, short stories and plays bring us a sense and a perception of life, their concern is with experience. The poet may create new experiences for the reader in which the reader can participate and which will give him or her a greater awareness and understanding of the world.

   We are deeply interested in literary works and have already made the project «The role of the wildlife in the novel “White Fang” by J. London and some problems of its translation. So, we have decided to continue working on analysis of some pieces of poetry.

  The topic of our new project is connected with the names of two great writers Rudyard Kipling and Robert Frost. Reading their poetry, we have come across the idea that their two works «If» by Rudyard Kipling and «The Road Not Taken» by Robert Frost have a lot in common. The main theme of these precious works is choices made in life.

  Choices, a simple decision can change the entire course of our life. Our lives are like either forest trails splitting into more directions every moment we face a new decision, making our hike more retched or a relaxing downhill. This is how our life goes, until we reach the end.  All our life depends on what choices we make. 

  In our project work, we tried to compare and analyse the poems «If»  by Rudyard Kipling and «The Road Not Taken»  by Robert Frost.

The aim of the research work  is to systematize the common features and differences of the poem’s.

In order to reach this aim, it is necessary to accomplish the following objectives:

• To analyse the theme of the poems by R.Kipling and R.Frost;
• To investigate the role of poetry in the contemporary world;

Methods of the research work: systematization; analysis; comparison

Our hypothesis is “If “ by Rudyard Kipling and “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost have a lot in common. They demonstrate in two different perspectives the struggles and the merits of making choices as well as other elements in life.

1.Analysis of the poem “IF” by R.Kipling

'If'

If you can keep your head when all about you 
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, 
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 
But make allowance for their doubting too; 
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, 
Or being hated, don't give way to hating, 
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master, 
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; 
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster 
And treat those two impostors just the same; 
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken 
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, 
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 
And lose, and start again at your beginnings 
And never breathe a word about your loss; 
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew 
To serve your turn long after they are gone, 
And so hold on when there is nothing in you 
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, 
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch, 
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, 
If all men count with you, but none too much; 
If you can fill the unforgiving minute 
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, 
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, 
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

   Rudyard Kipling – an English writer, well known for his works such as The Jungle Book, Kim, and the iconic poem If, was an eminent poet, a novelist and a prolific writer of short stories. He was born on Indian soil on December 30, 1865 in the city of Bombay, then under the British rule. Leaving his lavish colonial life in India at the age of five to move to England for the sake of his education was the earliest misfortune, which Kipling encountered. His foster parents treated him very roughly while he was trying to adjust in his new school. However, things got better when he moved to a boarding school in Devon where his literary career began budding as he assumed the responsibilities of the editor of the school newspaper. Upon returning to India in 1882, Kipling began to work for the newspaper industry and also started his literary career officially, the fruit of which were Department Ditties and other Verses and Plain Tales from the Hills, his first collections of verses and stories respectively.

  Towards the early 90s, his reputation as a poet was cemented and his works began to be published in the National Observer, which were later compiled in the Barrack-Room Ballads. At this time, he was fast becoming one of the most revered poets of the British Empire and the soldiers at war were one of his most preferred subjects. His Barrack-Room Ballads and Soldiers Three contain some of his best works on soldiers. Kipling married Caroline Balestier in 1892 and the couple moved to Vermont in the States, during which time he wrote his Jungle Book and Kim. His Jungle Book went on to make Kipling a name to be reckoned with in the world of children’s literature and Kim, till now remains one of Kipling’s most famous works. He returned to England in 1896 and published his Captain Courageous. Kipling also visited South Africa extensively and it was during his visit in time of the Boer War that he penned the Just-So Stories. Kipling finally settled in Sussex with his family in 1992 where he spent the rest of his life devoted to the pen. This man of letters left us on the 18thJanuary, 1936. The poet’s other important works include The Seven Seas, The Day’s Work, Trafficks and Discoveries, Debits and Credits, Thy Servant a Dog – for a few to name. Kipling received many honorary degrees and awards in his lifetime such as the Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Literature in 1926 and he turned down many honors as well such as a knighthood and the Poet Laureateship. His contribution to Literature received the most recognition when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907.

   The poem If was published in 1910 in Kipling’s collection of short stories and verses named‘Rewards and Fairies’. This poem, which is a dictum for meaningful living had for its inspiration the ‘Jameson Raid’ of 1895 which was a military action taken during the Boer War in South Africa. This raid, led by Leander Starr Jameson, had resulted in a great rush of patriotism in England in spite of being a failure. This was because the English public saw this military action of Jameson and his willingness to take responsibility for its fall, an act of exemplary courage. Kipling was also greatly moved by the patriotic sentiments which the Jameson Raid had ushered all across the island and took inspiration from the same to pen If.       In spite of being published in 1910, the poem still remains a staple of inspirational Western Literature as it is a magnificent tribute to the noblest virtues of being human. This poem has been so ingrained in the psyche of the British people that a couplet from it has been engraved above the entrance to Wimbledon’s Centre Court, which goes on to reflect the poem’s timeless appeal and the ability of inspire. This poem has motivated a number of great minds. Wayne Dyer while opining on the poem says, “The lofty ideas in his four-stanza poem inspire me to be a better man each time I read it and share it with my children, students, and audiences.”

"If" is a world- known and popular poem. In a BBC survey in 1995, it was voted the best poem of all. 

Symbols

  "If": a simple, two-letter title, and one that does and does not tell us a whole lot about the poem. When we come across this simple little title, our immediate reaction is naturally, "If what?" This is because "if" is one of those words that really needs a friend, some other words to go with it.

    Here is the other thing about the word "if." It usually describes something that is not real, or is not real yet. It points to something could potentially happen, or potentially exist. Therefore, the word "if" usually describes something that does not yet exist, but also implies that some other things will happen.

This is the basic idea of Kipling's poem. It is 32 lines of things that the speaker's listener has not done yet (learned to be strong, patient, wise, etc.). If he does them, but only if, then he will have possession of the entire world (a metaphor for power, a fulfilling life, and other things). What's more, the listener will be a man. In short, the title tells us that "If" is a poem about how certain things must be done. Only if those things are done, will certain other things happen.

  And here's one more little thing to consider: We never find out what will happen if the speaker's addressee does everything he's supposed to, unless we read to the end of the poem. In other words, only if we read all 32 lines do we learn what will happen if the listener does everything, he has supposed to do.

Poetic devices

  The most widely used literary technique in this poem is anaphora, which is the repetition of the same word, or series of words, at the beginning of successive lines. More than anything else, it is the anaphora in this poem that gives it a run-on feel. Take a peek at lines 9-11,

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;

If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

Notice all of those phrases: "If you can," "If you can," "If you can." Anaphora goes down in lines 18-20 as well:

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings,

And never breathe a word about your loss: (18-20)

  Part of the reason the poem is so repetitive, and sounds so much like a run-on is because it is a poem spoken by a father to a son. Repetition works well on kids, especially if you are trying to teach them something. While at times all the anaphora—the "if, if, if" and the "and, and, and"—gets a little tedious, but if you were trying to give a young person a mini-lecture about how to become a man and conquer the world, you might resort to this strategy, too.

  Kipling talks about manhood constantly, like all over his poetry—sometimes explicitly, sometimes not so much. While we have no idea for the first 30 lines of "If" that it is going to be a poem about being a man, it is very clear at the end that that is what it is. In many ways, the poem is a recipe for how to be a man and conquer the world: "Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, / and---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!" (31-32).

  "If' isn't the only Kipling poem that talks about manhood, though. "The Thousandth Man", for example is all about brotherhood and friendship."The White Man's Burden," a poem that has gotten Kipling in a lot of hot water over the years, is about leaving behind childish things and, well, becoming a (white) man: "Take up the White Man's burden-- / Have done with childish days" (49-50). Moreover,  we see that same idea in that most famous of Kipling books, The Jungle Book, if in a slightly different way.

1. Analysis of the poem “The Road Not Taken” by R.Frost

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

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 kept 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.

   The first poem in Frost’s book Mountain Interval, “The Road Not Taken,” has long been a popular favorite. Like many of his poems, it seems simple, but it is not exactly straightforward, and even perceptive readers have disagreed considerably over its best interpretation. It looks like a personal poem about a decision of vast importance, but there is evidence to the contrary both inside and outside the poem. Frost has created a richly mysterious reading experience out of a marvelous economy of means.

  The first significant thing about “The Road Not Taken” is its title, which presumably refers to an unexercised option, something about which the speaker can only speculate. The traveler comes to a fork in a road through a “yellow wood” and wishes he could somehow manage to “travel both” routes; he rejects that aspiration as impractical, however, at least for the day at hand. The road he selects is “the one less traveled by,” suggesting the decision of an individualist, someone little inclined to follow the crowd. Almost immediately, however, he seems to contradict his own judgment: “Though as for that the passing there/ Had worn them really about the same.” The poet appears to imply that the decision is based on evidence that is, or comes close to being, an illusion.

   The contradictions continue. He decides to save the first, (perhaps) more traveled route for another day but then confesses that he does not think it probable that he will return, implying that this seemingly casual and inconsequential choice is really likely to be crucial—one of the choices of life that involve commitment or lead to the necessity of other choices that will divert the traveler forever from the original stopping place. In the final stanza, the traveler says that he will be “telling this with a sigh,” which may connote regret. His choice, in any event, “has made all the difference.” The tone of this stanza, coupled with the title, strongly suggests that the traveler, if not regretting his choice, at least laments the possibilities that the need to make a choice leave unfulfilled.

   Has Frost in mind a particular and irrevocable choice of his own, and if so, what feeling, in this poem of mixed feelings, should be regarded as dominant? There is no way of identifying such a specific decision from the evidence of the poem itself. Although a prejudice exists in favor of identifying the “I” of the poem with the author in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the speaker may not be Frost at all. On more than one occasion the poet claimed that this poem was about his friend Edward Thomas, a man inclined to indecisiveness out of a strong—and, as Frost thought, amusing—habit of dwelling on the irrevocability of decisions. If so, the reference in the poem’s final stanza to “telling” of the experience “with a sigh/ Somewhere ages and ages hence” might be read not only as the boast of Robert Frost, who “tells” it as long as people read the poem, but also as a perpetual revelation of Thomas, also a fine poet.

    What is clear is that the speaker is, at least, a person like Thomas in some respects (though there may well be some of Frost in him also). Critics of this poem are likely always to argue whether it is an affirmation of the crucial nature of the choices people must make on the road of life or a gentle satire on the sort of temperament that always insists on struggling with such choices. The extent of the poet’s sympathy with the traveler also remains an open question.

   Frost composed this poem in four five-line stanzas with only two end rhymes in each stanza (abaab). The flexible iambic meter has four strong beats to the line. Of the technical achievements in “The Road Not Taken,” one in particular shows Frost’s skill at enforcing meaning through form.

The simplicity of the symbolism

  The popularity of the poem is largely a result of the simplicity of its symbolism: The speaker must choose between diverging paths in a wood, and he sees that choice as a metaphor for choosing between different directions in life. Nevertheless, for such a seemingly simple poem, it has been subject to very different interpretations of how the speaker feels about his situation and how the reader is to view the speaker. In 1961, Frost himself commented, “The Road Not Taken” is “a tricky poem, very tricky.”

  Frost wrote the poem in the first person, which raises the question of whether the speaker is the poet himself or a persona, a character created for the purposes of the poem. According to the Lawrance Thompson biography, Robert Frost: The Years of Triumph (1971), Frost would often introduce the poem in public readings by saying that the speaker was based on his Welsh friend Edward Thomas. In Frost’s words, Thomas was “a person who, whichever road he went, would be sorry he didn’t go the other.”

  In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker, while walking on an autumn day in a forest where the leaves have changed to yellow, must choose between two paths that head in different directions. He regrets that he cannot follow both roads, but since that is not possible, he pauses for a long while to consider his choice. In the first stanza and the beginning of the second, one road seems preferable; however, by the beginning of the third stanza he has decided that the paths are roughly equivalent. Later in the third stanza, he tries to cheer himself up by reassuring himself that he will return someday and walk the other road.

  At the end of the third stanza and in the fourth, however, the speaker resumes his initial tone of sorrow and regret. He realizes that he probably will never return to walk the alternate path, and in the fourth stanza he considers how the choice he must make now will look to him in the future. The speaker believes that when he looks back years later, he will see that he had actually chosen the “less traveled” road. He also thinks that he will later realize what a large difference this choice has made in his life. Two important details suggest that the speaker believes that he will later regret having followed his chosen road: One is the idea that he will “sigh” as he tells this story, and the other is that the poem is entitled “The Road Not Taken”—implying that he will never stop thinking about the other path he might have followed.

  What makes Robert Frost's poem so effective is that it consists of one elaborate metaphor and the reader of the poem is caught inside that three-dimensional metaphor. We know from the start that the poem is a metaphor, but that metaphor is so realistic that we feel we are actually standing there. We can feel the crispness of the atmosphere and perhaps even hear the rustling of the yellow leaves on the trees. We might even feel that this event is actually happening to us. This ostensibly simple metaphor is only saying that the traveler came to a place where two roads figuratively diverged and he had to choose one or the other. However,      Frost makes the reader see and feel that setting by his detailed description. For example:

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth

  The very imaginary setting not only has the two dimensions of height and width, but Frost intentionally gives it a third dimension of depth with those lines. Yet there is no such place; it is just a metaphor. He is really only talking about having had to make a difficult and very important career decision. Therefore, the setting is both, rather uncannily, a metaphor and a real place. By making the setting so vivid and so real, Frost emphasizes the importance of that particular event in his life.

  In the last stanza, the speaker has left the fork in life's journey and is looking back on it. The metaphor is no longer a real place with real roads and real trees. It has become a simple metaphor again.

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;

  The two roads symbolize, obviously, the choices that the speaker faces in life. He cannot take both, as much as he would like to, so he spends time in contemplation and observation. He cannot see far, not far enough to make a confident decision as to the better nature of one over the other. The fact that it is a "yellow wood" perhaps indicates that, as fall is often a symbol of the waning years of one's life, the speaker is past his youth, when he can make a choice with the confidence that it is correctible later. The choice he makes will be permanent, highly influencing the rest of his fast-disappearing days. As one approaches middle age, he comes to grip with the fact that his time for hopes and dreams is past; he must come to grips with the reality created by the choices he has made.

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,

  Here the speaker seems to be contradictory. He has made a choice, but is still unsure about it. It is "just as fair" yet it has "the better claim."  Then again, there is no appreciable difference as the "passing there / Had worn them really about the same." He is still trying to convince himself that either choice would have been acceptable (just in case this path proves ill-advised). He cannot quite make up his mind about the wisdom of his decision.

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.

  The speaker is still in the process of convincing himself, even to the point of self-delusion. He tries to tell himself that, should this road proves not the right one, he will have the chance to go back to take the other road. Yet, in a road of complete honesty, he knows that life will probably not allow him the choice to return, even if he should wish to. He has transitioned to the point where he realizes that his youth is past and he must take up the responsibility and reality of adulthood.

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.

  He has come to the decision that, for good or ill, the choice he has made will be permanent and highly effecting of his life.  He looks ahead to to time when he can look back and tell that the choice he made, whether wisely or unwisely, was the point at which his life's path was set.

Strong connection with nature

  Like many of his poems, "The Road Not Taken" shows Frost's strong connection with nature and natural beauty. He takes time to explain that the forest is "yellow," meaning that it is Fall, and that the path "bends in the undergrowth," showing how the forest (life) hides the future.

  The narrator also mentions that his chosen path is "grassy and want[s] wear," meaning that the paths are not paved roads but dirt, meant for foot travel. Both paths are covered in leaves, reinforcing the Fall theme from before and the lack of travelers. Most of the imagery in the poem is visual in nature; the narrator doesn't mention bird, insect, or wildlife sounds, but the reader can imagine that the path crunches underfoot, seeing as how it is covered in leaves. Other sounds can be assumed from the fall setting, but none is actually mentioned. Similarly, there are no smells, tastes, or touch sensations mentioned; the poem is more about trying to decide the future based on what is known now.

   The last important visual image mentioned is "the morning," meaning that the narrator is just starting out on his journey. This symbolizes a still-young person, with many choices ahead, making one of his first major decisions in life. As the day (life) continues, he will look back on the "morning" and think about his decision, wondering if it was the correct one.

The mood and the tone of the text

   The mood is the emotional atmosphere evoked by the text, whereas the word 'tone' describes the author's attitude toward the subject to topic.

In "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, the narrator finds himself facing a choice between two paths when the road forks on his journey through woods in autumn.  He must decide which road to take.  The mood at the beginning of the poem reflects the warmth of the "yellow wood" and the traveler's anticipation at having to choose his own path, so the mood feels light-hearted, even anticipatory.

The tone, however, really focuses more on how Frost feels about the uncertainty of choices.  The narrator of the poem is unsure about choosing the wrong road and missing unknown opportunities.  The fork in the road becomes a metaphor for all choices that people must and how certain choices may affect the outcome of their lives.  As the narrator reflects on having to make a decision, the tone of "The Road Not Taken" becomes serious and contemplative.

The poetic devices

There are multiple poetic devices used in Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken.

In the first line, the poet used assonance. Assonance is the repetition of a vowel sound within a line of poetry. In the first line,

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

the "o" sound is repeated in "roads" and "yellow."

In the eighth line,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

   The author uses personification. Personification is the giving of human characteristics to non-human/non-living things. In this line, the path wanted wear. A path cannot want. Only humans can want. This qualifies as personification.

   The poem as a whole is a metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to a person, idea, or object to which it is not literally applicable.

  The poet is, therefore, comparing the paths in life to the choices one must make when reaching a crossroads. The poem speaks of the actual choices in life as roads one must choose to take. Metaphorically, the roads simply represent choices in life.

Debates about the interpretation of the poem

   This simple poem has given rise to surprisingly complex debates about its interpretation: though some believe Frost refers to a specific decision in his own life, others believe he pokes fun at contemporary poet Edward Thomas’s famous indecisiveness.

  The poem’s tone is also up for debate: some read it as a gently satiric commentary on the human response to decision-making, while others interpret it as a lament about the cruelty of permanent choices.

Some think the “road less traveled” leads to tragedy and regret, while others believe Frost celebrates nonconformity and individuality.

   The poem’s speaker contradicts himself, first believing the road to be less traveled but then changing his mind, then deciding to return to the other path another day, only to confess he will probably never come back to it.

2. Comparison of the poems

Similarities

1. The theme

Each poem speaks about choice and individuality. The subjects of both poems can be related to life and growing up. There are certainly differences in how each makes his point, but the philosophy is quite similar.  

Kipling tells his reader to make the difficult choice to:  

...keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs.... (1-2)

And to:

...make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss...(17-18)

Frost says,

I took the one less traveled by, (19)

In each case, a less popular choice is made.  

2. Poetic philosophy

   In The Road Not Taken, the narrator of the poem is walking on a path and the road in front of him/her is split into two separate paths (symbolizing two choices that could change the course of their life), something in his/her life is changing and he is forced to choose. The narrator does not know whats in store for either of them, “And looked down one as far as I could, to where it bent in the undergrowth” (“The Road Not Taken”, Line 4-5). In If, the narrator is telling his son how he should act so he can make to become a great man in the future. The son has a general idea of what he should expect unlike the narrator in The Road Not Taken, “With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, and – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!” (“If“, Line 29-32)

3.  Another similarity between these poems is how they show elements of expectations, If is more about gender expectations while The Road Not Taken is about life’s expectations. If’s entire poem is about what someone expects in a ‘great man’, being strong and courageous but also humble and intelligent. It is sort of like a phenomenon; very few people can keep that balance. In addition, this poem is telling the son that if he cannot do all of things listed, he will not be a man and I believe that puts a lot of pressure on him, especially because this is his own father addressing it. On the other hand, in The Road Not Taken the narrator is given the pressure of life’s expectations. They are halted by a split in the path, one traveled by many and the other, not so much. After days of switching between the two, the narrator finally decides to take the path less traveled and is completely fine with it. The path that was less traveled symbolizes uniqueness and how she did not choose what everyone else chose. For example, everyone was going to university and you decided to instead go to art school, you’re choosing the path you want to go through, not being pressured into doing the social standard.

4. Poetic elements      

  These two poems have a couple things in common when it comes to poetic elements.  First, structurally, these poems are similar.  Neither is written in free verse.  Both are made up of four stanzas of the same number of lines (although "If" has 8 lines each and "Road" has only 5 lines).  Both have a rhyme scheme.  Both employ non-rhyming sound repetition as well ("If" the word you; "Road" the words I and and).

  If you look a little deeper, you will also note that both poems are built on metaphors.  "If" employs several small metaphors in each stanza as points of comparison for growing up and tackling lifes problems.  "The Road Not Taken" is built on one extended metaphor (Two roads diverging in a wood) as a point of comparison for life decisions.

Differences

    However, there are some huge differences in how each poet gets his message across.  In "If," Kipling uses a direct comparison between the person being addressed and other people, while Frost uses the metaphor of two paths in a wood.  In the case of "If," the reader is directed to examine his behavior in conjunction with the behavior of others, while Frost's choice takes place as he stands alone.      Kipling's poem is more about being a leader, and Frost focuses more on personal satisfaction.  Kipling addresses the reader in the second person, talking directly to a particular "you," while Frost appears to be musing to himself about the choice he made.  There are literary elements that are quite different, too, for example, with Kipling using quite direct language and Frost using imagery.

    Even though in The Road Not Taken the central theme is choice, in If it is not. There are elements of it, but the main theme of If is the value of masculinity and stoicism. Stoicism is a way of thinking in which you accept what is happening without showing displeasure nor pleasure. This way of thinking originated from the philosophy of the Stoics from the time of Ancient Greece. There are many lines throughout the poem that show stoicism, “Or, being hated don’t give way to hating.” (“If“, Line 7). Masculinity is another theme, this entire poem centers around the idea of how to become and act like a “man”. This branches out into ideas of pressure and gender expectations referring to the last paragraph, and if the son doesn’t do all the things listed within the poem, he will not be a man, a huge hit on his ego.

   If is specifically is narrated by a father who is addressing it to his son, while The Road Not Taken can be addressed to anyone and can be relatable. The Road Not Taken focuses more on important life changing decisions. Everyone has to go through choices, no one can go through life without making a decision whether that be choosing between white or whole wheat bread or choosing which university to apply to. Even though the paths may look the same, they may lead to two completely different outcomes, “Had worn them really about the same.” (“The Road Not Taken“, Line 10). But in the end, you’re going to have to decide and you can’t turn back, you may want to stick with the social norm, or maybe like the main character you’d rather be your own person and choose the unique route, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” (“The Road Not Taken“, Line 18 – 20)

   Though If is more directed towards males and talks about gender expectations, and The Road Not Taken focuses more on the difficulties of important decisions and ignoring social expectations, these two poems address expectations as a whole as well as the importance of choice and how it could impact your life, whether that be choosing if you want to become a great man or choosing the path that no one else has every stepped into. Choices drive our life, but it is only the steering wheel, and you are the driver, you decide which turns to make.

Conclusion

     Both poems serve as admonitions about life in general. In Kipling's "If," he lists a set of terms or conditions that must be met in order to hold one's head up and live life to the fullest when the end arrives. In Frost's "Road Not Taken," the message is one of choices: Take the road less travelled by and have unexpected and unusual experiences, or simply follow the beaten path and lead a quiet, stereotypical life of average proportions. Frost tells us he "took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference," leading us to conclude the the less-travelled road is more rewarding.

    Neither poem is particularly preachy, but the advisory effect of each is achieved through meter, figurative language, and an array of other poetic tools. Each is effective in reaching its audience, as both poems are studied in modern classrooms despite their age. Hence, each message could be considered timeless.

    Our hypothesis that   If by Rudyard Kipling and The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost have a lot in common seems to be proven. We strongly believe that the writers demonstrate in two different perspectives the struggles and the merits of making choices as well as other elements in life.

     In conclusion, I want to say that this work was  rather difficult, but very interesting.

      This activity is quite new and has a very definite practical meaning : I have learned to work with dictionaries and different types of  literature.

  This project is a big step into the increasing my level of English.

If to talk about the ways of continuing this work, they are obvious: I want to continue working on analysis of some pieces of poetry.

       The list of the used literature

1. Monolingual dictionary “LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English” – Longman, London, 2010.
2. Golikova J. A.English-Russian Translation. – М.: The New Knowledge, 2007. 
3. Rudyard Kipling. Poems – (world classics). – М.: АSТ. Astrel`, 2007
4. Robert  Frost. - The Road Not Taken.– М.: ACADEMiA, 2007
5. http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=250
6. http://www.businessballs.com/ifpoemrudyardkipling.htm
7. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/poetryandplaybookreviews/9020436/How-poetry-can-change-lives.html
8. http://www.shmoop.com/if-by-rudyard-kipling/title.html