Question

Read Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s ‘It Might Have Been’.

[Link to the poem: http://www.ellawheelerwilcox.org/poems/pitmight.htm]

Compare the poem to ‘The Road Not Taken’ and complete the following, based on your insights.

Through a discussion, share your insight with others in class.

Answer 1

1. The Road Not Taken – What’s different?
   • The poet has to choose between two roads.
   • It focuses on making an important choice in life.
   • The poet chooses the road less travelled by.
   • It shows how one decision can change the course of life.
2. What’s common?
   • Both poems deal with choices and decisions in life.
   • Both show the feeling of thinking about what might have happened.
   • Both involve a sense of regret or uncertainty about the path not chosen.
   • Both encourage us to think about the consequences of our choices.
3. It Might Have Been – What’s different?
   • It focuses more on regret over missed opportunities.
   • The speaker thinks about things that could have happened if different choices had been made.
   • It highlights the pain of looking back at the past.
   • It has a more sad and regretful tone than The Road Not Taken.