How is robert frosts 'the road not taken' ironic?

Question

How is robert frosts 'the road not taken' ironic?

Answer 1

in the end he says, "I took the one less traveled by,  

And that has made all the difference".

the only irony i see (because i don't really wanna examine the poem too deply since it's like...two in the morning) is that you would expect him to take the road that was traveled by the most. the irony is that he took the other one and as he says, it "made all the difference". hope that helps.

Answer 2

its symbolic to life.  you often wonder what would have happened if you took a different "road" in your life. you dont know if the difference he is reffereing to is bad or good. theres alot of irony

Answer 3

apparently there are two interpretations, the literal and the ironic, and the easiest way to differentiate is in the title of the poem. people who use the literal interpretation misremember the title of the poem as "the road less travelled" and focus on the 'inspirational' part about "i took the road less travelled by and that has made all the difference". This focus makes you think about the literal, lovely, happy stuff.

If you instead focus on the actual title of "the road not taken", the poem stops being about how great the road (choice) he took (made) was, and instead focuses on the regret about the road (choice) he didn't take (make), and how he is rationalising his decision to himself - the line "i will be saying this with a sigh" also supports this.