Leech’s seven Types of Meaning: A Semantic Analysis of The Road not Taken

Abstract

The goal of this study was to analyze a poem by Robert Frost “The Road not taken” by the application of semantic theory. The present study applied Leech’s theory of the seven types of meaning which are connotative, denotative, affective, reflective, thematic, stylistic, and collocative meaning, by applying this theory the researcher highlighted the choices and opportunities that a person can have in his life and the regret of not taking every opportunity and this regret accompanies a person through his whole life. The data was examined by applying these meanings on the different stanza of the poem. A descriptive qualitative method was used for this study. According to the findings, connotative, denotative, stylistic, and thematic meanings were found in the first stanza, affective meaning in the second stanza, collocative meaning in the third stanza, and reflective meaning in the fourth stanza of the poem. This study has also highlighted the major themes in the poem after applying leech’s theory. Everyone learns from his experiences and the choices that he makes in life so; the poem is about making the choices without any regrets and without looking back on life.