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.
The subjects of
both poems can be related to life and growing up. I think the differences certainly
outweigh the similarities in these selections, but I can see where a teacher might pair
them on the basis of structure and broad subject matter.
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