Examples of symbols in the story include roads, which are metaphors for life paths and choices and the symbols provided by the descriptions of nature in the poem which are metaphors for the times in people's lives (specifically when they are making large life choices).
These figurative nature of the roads and the descriptions of the natural world in the setting allow the reader of the poem to infer that the poem is not "actually" about roads in the woods, but about the ways that our choice of life path can affect things.
