Poem Analysis: 'To Build A Fire'

Hip Shooter -
When I first read this poem it made me think of travelling, maybe in life. The cold and harsh world, though beautiful, is hard to live in. The horse is the character’s only companion. The ending though, seemed as if the character was waiting for sleep, and would keep traveling in the cold and dark until they reached a place to sleep. This could also mean sleep as a final resting place, as death. The character will continue to travel a cold, dark and harsh path of life with his only companion of warmth, the horse, until he reaches his destination or rest, of sleep.

Memorex -
For me, this poem brought forth the memory of reading the short story, To Build a Fire. In both stories, the character was heading towards warmth, towards
The first paragraph makes me feel the outside, in my mind, and pine forest, feel the cold, and see the picture of falling snow in a forest. It puts the image of him stopping out of exhaustion, in the middle of a property that doesn’t belong to him because he can not go on in the night any further. The next verse makes me think of the loneliness of just you and your animal out in the cold, as well as emphasises the cold, and puts the image of a frozen winter wonderland in your mind, with no one or thing anywhere near. I can almost feel the darkness enclosing all around me, while the cold winds chill me to my bones. It continues on, and I can imagine just hearing nothing but the horse and the wind on the ice. The writer uses emphasis in his lines, telling a story with pictures he makes you conjure up from his description. There is very little internal narration by the character than a small part of each paragraph. The images and the dialogue are very well mixed, making the story a very exciting
For one, I feel like the entire poem could be a symbol for life, with the very night being one part of it. The cold and hard journey the character is on could be a rough part of one's life, the dark a depression that settles over people. The writing specify that the character was traveling on “The darkest evening of the year.” , or the darkest part of a life. During one's lifetime, a person may only have one time, or multiple times, they could have have fallen to sadness, to the deep depression that is prone to humans. Even though they feel alone, in a cold and empty place, hopefully they continue on. The horse can be a silent companion, the one thing that keeps you going between one town and the next. A character the urges you to continue for their life, even when you live in the dark. The woods are a temptation, a stop from the hard journey, and end to it all. At the end of the poem, the words speak of rest, of sleep at the end of a journey. “The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.” I believe the words mean he must continue on with his life, instead of journeying into the woods, for the promises he