“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”: “Whose woods these are I think I know / His house is in the village though / He will not see me stopping here / To watch his woods fill up with snow” (p.586, II. 1-4).The author capitalizes the first word in every one of his lines. While rhyming the first two lines, not the third, the author connects the last line in rhyming rhythm with his first two lines. This is not true for the rest of the
15-16) it takes on the feeling of a wise choice with the right intentions in mind. At the same time, it gives the gloomy feeling of a tired person who must go on through the dark woods alone with his horse at night, who must carry on no matter what. Frost describes this by explaining . "..the happy-sad blend of the drinking song." (Frost 985).
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening This poem is layered with different meanings and it requires the reader to contemplate Frost's emotions behind the words. Like most of Frost's poems, "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening" can be read on several level yet you can ignore them all and still enjoy the surface meaning. On the surface of this poem, it's talking about a man traveling through the woods with his horse and they stop near someone's house. The horse wants the man to continue but he wants to stay. Being in the woods causes the man to reflect on the larger tensions between duty; his "promises to keep"(13) and the desire to do what he wants.
From the imagery and the simplistic structure, the reader is tempted to literally interpret the poem; however, one must analyze the rooted significance that is in Robert Frost’s poem. The four quatrains of this poem are the definition of simplicity. It tells of an experience on a late night where Robert Frost comes across some snowy woods late in the evening. The lovely scene before his eyes intrigues the author and tempts him to remain in the woods. However, the author is still aware of the large ground that is to be covered before he can relax for the remainder of the evening.
The poem tends to lean towards a light, soft, whisper evoking tone. By the end of the second stanza you can almost feel the hesitation. “My little horse must think it queer, to stop without a farm house near,” adds to the tone by showing the confusion of the horse. In the fourth stanza, the woods become alive. You can now picture yourself, slowing to a stop in the midst of a slow snow fall between a frozen lake and woods, hearing the horse snort and tug at the reins to show its unease, feeling the wind blow tiny flakes onto your face.
Robert Frost uses metaphor and symbolism extensively in ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’, developing deeper and more complex meanings from a superficially simple poem. Frost’s own analysis contributes greatly to our appreciation of the importance of metaphor, claiming that “metaphor [is] the whole of thinking,” inviting the reader to interpret the beautiful scene in a more profound way. However, the multitude of possible interpretations sees it being read as either carefully crafted lyric, a “suicide poem, [or] as recording a single autobiographical incident” . Judith Oster argues, therefore, that the social conditions individual to each reader tangibly alter our understanding of metaphor. Despite the simplicity of language, Frost uses conventional metaphors to explore complex ideas about life, death and nature.
The Two Worlds in Stopping by Woods "Stopping by Woods" The visible sign of the poet's preoccupation is the recurrent image of dark woods and trees. The world of the woods, a world offering perfect quiet and solitude, exists side by side with the realization that there is also another world, a world of people and social obligations. Both worlds have claims on the poet. He stops by woods on this "darkest evening of the year" to watch them "fill up with snow," and lingers so long that his "little horse" shakes his harness bells "to ask if there is some mistake." The poet is put in mind of the "promises" he has to keep, of the miles he still must travel.
This shows that although an explicit meaning is clearly conveyed by the poet in order to establish the implicit meanings of a piece the reader must establish the key words of the piece and analyse these words further until the true or implicit meaning is reached. This is often necessary in poems such as "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" as the hidden meaning is often far stronger, when established, than those moods and, meanings shown clearly at first glance. This poem also clearly depicts mans desire to escape from the difficulties of life, society, duty, responsibility and finally "promises." Word Count: 1,213
In 1922, a middle-aged Robert Frost wrote “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” in which the speaker spends “the darkest evening of the year” admiring the snow-filled woods (Frost 4). Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” uses heavy metaphors, emphatic repetition, and a flowing rhyme scheme to convey the speaker’s acknowledgment of a long, eventful life. In this poem of one man’s struggle between solitude and obligation, he shows us how life is truly in the journey, not just in the stops along the way, and that stagnancy just isn’t an option. Robert Frost certainly isn’t the first to use metaphors for journey and death to bring life to his poems, but he does so in an eloquent, and almost unnoticeable way, causing the reader to feel
Another theme that is included in this poem is vacation. The speaker is on a trip, that he seems not to enjoy but then at the top of the mountain he finds a fountain that he never sees and now wants to visit. Figurative language is something that is included in all types of writing. The mountain is so big that the shadow in this poem can overcast the whole town. In this poem by Frost he uses many similes and metaphors that compare and contrast the mountain to a wall.