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

Question: 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.

(a) What does the poet mean when he says ‘no step had trodden black’?

(b) What was the doubt the speaker had?

(c) What does ‘both’ refer to in the above lines?

(d) Why does the poet exclaim, ‘Oh, I kept the first for another day!’?

Answer:

(a) The poet means to say that when he went there the following day, both the paths appeared to be the same as no decay had been caused to the fallen leaves.

(b) The poet was doubtful whether he would ever be able to walk the other road in the future.

(c) The word ‘both’ refers to the two roads that fork into the forest.

(d) Here, the poet is either consoling himself, or gratified that he has eventually taken a decision. He adds that he would perhaps tread the other road on another occasion.