During the modernist movement of the early twentieth century, Robert Frost chose to compose his poetry in a traditional metered verse. Even though he was born in California, Frost grew up and lived in New England for most of his life. Reflecting his childhood environment, much of his verse contains extremely ordinary rural farm life imagery to which the majority of the American populace could relate. His opposition to the experimental language and images of literary high modernism with common imagery reflected his rural childhood and opened up poetic references to the general population.

Both "The Road Not Taken" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" include the typical rural images of Frost. In "The Road Not Taken," a single road in a forested locale upon which the narrator is traveling splits into two worn paths, only one by which he can choose to continue his journey. The speaker in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" also rests by a wooded area in reflection of his journey. Not only are the settings of the two poems similar, woods, but also the actions of the narrators, contemplation.

However, the exact details of the surrounding Frost describes in the two verses vary to some extent. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" takes place on the winter solstice, the darkest night of the year. The narrator stops his horse and cart between a frozen lake and a breezy wood. Snow is gradually shrouding the countryside, which is far from any other inhabitants, not even a lone farmhouse. As Frost writes:

                    My little horse must think it queer
                    To stop without a farmhouse near
                    Between the woods and frozen lake
                    The darkest evening of the year.

Conversely, the woodland in "The Road Not Taken" is grassy and yellow, providing an image of sunshine and warmth.

                    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…

Both paths are worn from previous travelers and disappear into further brush and trees. Moreover, the diverse images Frost uses not only present two different physical atmospheres but establish two tremendously varied moods as well.

Darkness creates a feeling of both weariness and comfort in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," which is not a morbid reflection on death but essentially a metaphysical meditation on mortality.

                    He will not see me stopping here
                    To watch his woods fill up with snow.

The deep and dark woods represent death, both appealing and isolating. Instead of continuing on with worldly obligations, the narrator is drawn toward an end such as the secluded trees symbolize. Resistance by the horse to resume the journey embodies a desire to continue, the instinct of wanting to live.

                    He gives his harness bells a shake
                    To ask if there is some mistake.
                    The only other sound's the sweep
                    Of easy wind and downy flake.
                    The woods are lovely, dark, and deep…

Nevertheless, the traveler must decide between stopping in the snowy forest and proceeding on his way.

Similar to the decision the speaker must make in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowing Evening," "The Road Not Taken" is a meditation on life and choices that must be resolved. Both of the diverging paths are attractive though the traveler can only select one road. Because Frost sets "The Road Not Taken" in a grassy, yellow wood during the morning, the two worn roads represent life and possibilities. Unlike the darkness in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowing Evening," which symbolizes an end like night is the conclusion of the day, the light signifies a beginning, as morning is the start of the day.

                    And both that morning equally lay
                    In leave 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.

Unable to travel both paths, the speaker must decide which to follow. He notes that whichever road he chooses, he must leave the other for another time. However, he also realizes that his selection will lead to further decisions and he will probably never return to these two particular roads diverging in a yellow wood. Nonetheless, the two roads symbolize the possibilities of choices in life.

Both travelers in "The Road Not Taken" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" stop to contemplate the decisions before them. In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," the narrator realizes he must resume his journey, though halting is extremely appealing, because he has promises to keep and many miles to continue before he is done. He essentially chooses to maintain life instead of forsaking to death. Since Frost wrote "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" later in his life, the poem is basically his viewpoint on his own mortality and perhaps even eventual death.

                    But I have promise to keep,
                    And miles to go before I sleep.
                    And miles to go before I sleep.

Comparable to the motivation to compose "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," "The Road Not Taken" also contains a personal perspective from Frost. Because the speaker can only chose one road, he decides to follow the less traveled path noting that not following the popular preference made all the difference in his life. Likewise, Frost was glad to not have gone with the flow of modernism but to compose conventional metered poetry.

                    I shall be telling this with a sigh
                    Somewhere ages and ages hence:
                    Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I -
                    I took the one less traveled by,
                    And that has made all the difference.

During the literary high modernist movement of the early nineteen hundreds, most poets experimented with images and language. However, Robert Frost chose to compose in traditional metered verse. His poetry, which also uses tremendously ordinary rural farm images to which most of the general American population could relate, opened up poetic references to the everyday individual.