Question

What is the meaning of the line “grassy and wanted wear”?

Answer 1

Hint: The question requires us to solve the idiom. An idiom is a widely used phrase with a meaning that differs from the literal meaning of the words. We can find a lot of idioms in literature works, poems, novels etc.

Complete answer:
Idioms often summarise or represent a widely held cultural experience. For example – “You cannot judge a book by its cover” meaning not to assume something merely out of appearances. The purpose of using idioms is to generally express complex ideas in a simple way. They can also be used to keep the user entertained, establish a point of view and add humour to the writing.

The given line is taken from the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.
Robert Frost has in his poem used the following lines:
“Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same”

The poem “The Road Not Taken” tells the story of a poet who chooses one of two diverging roads of yellow wood to follow in his life. He picked the one that was “grassy and wanted wear”. It means that the path he selected was covered in grass and had never been walked before. The poet wanted to experience hardships in life and the joy of reaching the goal after overcoming those hardships.

Hence the meaning of the line “grassy and wanted wear” is the road which is overflowing with grass since it was never taken by any other traveller.

Note: The answer is based on the poem written by Robert Frost. The words “grassy and wanted wear” can literally mean wanting clothes that are grassy. However, it should be understood in the context it is written and what the author is trying to convey.