Which road does the speaker select and why?

When the speaker comes to a fork in the road, he examines one and looks down as far as he can see to the place where it is no longer visible through the undergrowth. Then, he examines the other road, noting that it is "just as fair" as the first road, but it is grassier. Therefore, the roads look somewhat different from one another, but, he says that "the passing there / Had worn them really about the same." In other words, then, about the same number of people have traveled each road; one is not obviously more or less traveled than the other. Further, "both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black." Both roads, then, are covered in leaves, and no one appears to have traveled either road that day, because the fallen leaves that cover each are fresh and not muddy. Again, the narrator tells us that the roads, aside from their general appearance, are essentially equal in terms of how worn they are. He says that he "kept the first for another day," and so we know that he chooses the second, grassier road. He never really says exactly why he chooses that road, but he does tell us that he plans to lie someday in the future, "ages and ages hence." He will tell people then that he took the road "less traveled," but he's already told us that the roads have been traveled the same number of times.

In the poem "The Road Not Taken," the narrator comes to a fork in the road through a "yellow wood" and wishes that he could somehow travel down both roads. After looking down one of the paths as far as he can see, the speaker decides to take the road less traveled. Despite the fact that the speaker spends a considerable amount of time contemplating which path he should take, one could surmise that the speaker is not interested in following the flock. Frost does not explicitly explain why the speaker chooses to walk down the less traveled path, but the audience can infer that the speaker is an independent person. The speaker may also enjoy taking a risk or experiencing something new and exciting. The speaker's decision also reveals that he is an adventurous individual, who may be seeking a thrilling experience. Regardless of why the speaker chooses to make the unique decision to walk down the road less traveled, the speaker's decision has significantly impacted the trajectory of his life.