“Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost on the surface seemed to
be just another poem about nature. As I started to read this poem, I didn’t think that the poem had underlying meaning; however I found myself pondering hidden meanings within the text. The poem is full of imagery of nature, and it is very easy to follow. The title of the poem is simplistic, yet is a great choice because anything more would not allow the reader to see their own meaning of the poem. While I was reading the poem, one thing that kept coming to my mind was what Frost said about his poetry: “I am not a nature poet.” I remember thinking, if Frost is not a nature poet, then how can he write an entire poem about nature. I came to the conclusion that the importance of the poem wasn’t in the woods, but rather the person that stopped. I think that Frost wrote this poem, and several others, in a way that forced the reader to gather their own personal meaning. Although the nature is very much so prevalent, the nature plays more into the imagery that Frost creates. Many of Frost’s poems seem to be sensory, allowing the reader to experience the emotion first hand. What I found to be the most important aspect of this poem was the poems form. Frost was able to add to the poems feeling, by using Iambic Tetrameter, similar to Iambic pentameter using four feet rather than five. When a poet or author uses any type of Iambic meter, the reader can easily pick up on the rhythm. In this poem, the meter makes the reader feel a sense of urgency, in that the man does not want to get caught looking at these woods. Another great device is the rhyme scheme he employs, which is AABA. This type of rhyming links the lines together to create a sense of cohesion. Probably the most important, and “famous” lines of the poem are the last two: “and miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.” Frost
Jaci M. Response: “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” disrupts this AABA pattern, but in a way that is not unpleasing and a way that adds to the deeper meaning Frost’s poem, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”, is one of my favorite poems. I love that it is a sort of double entendre. At first glance a person can see a man in the woods, and while I believe that Frost intended for people to gather their own meaning, I took this to be symbolic of one’s life. You can stop and admire all the things you have done, or perhaps you can focus on what other people’s lives are, but there is so much for us to do that we must not stop.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
While reading “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost, it should be noted how the rhythm plays an…
- 1007 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
However in ‘An old man’s winter night’ Frost thinks there is a fraught relationship between man and nature because in the poem the old man seems to fear nature, “and scared the outer night...” This is symbolic of the man’s fear of nature.…
- 1375 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
As noted above, Frost uses many techniques to explain the significant of the poem. The most important aspect of the poem is the extended metaphor of the…
- 583 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
To begin with, Thomas writes in rhyming couplets which create an on-going effect of the individuals story also reflecting the oral tradition of the English countryside. He also writes in narrative lyric which gives this poem a song like undercurrent carrying the story fluidly and seamlessly. AOMWN is a narrative poem with an irregular rhyme scheme, Frost here reflects the conflict between man and nature as death approaches. Even though the poem is irregular in rhyme, frost makes use of internal rhyme such as assonance and alliteration which may illustrate how the character feels comfortable inside but has a fear of the natural environment, feeling almost as if it is against him.…
- 1127 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
First of all, the poem shows several examples of how man should become one with nature. The poem states that nature has a voice of gladness and eloquence of beauty. This excerpt, "The golden sun, the planets, all the infinite host of heaven are shining on the sad abodes of death," is a good example of being a part of nature. Another good example is, "Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim thy growth." Basically, nature is described as a cause of happiness and wise doings.…
- 444 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Frost achieves his purpose of creating a poem which “begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” His use of metaphors, soft alliterations and biblical allusions illuminate the idea that everything beautiful eventually fades…
- 332 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Poetry is subjective in its very nature, which is what makes it sometimes so beautiful. It can not be argued or reasoned with; it just is. There are, however, some very important technical parts to a poem. Theme is one of these parts. The theme of poetry is not always readily identifiable as the author may simply be trying to state feelings or memories of a certain idea or event. More times than not, though, present in poetry are multiple themes. Such is the case in Emily Dickenson’s “Crumbling is not an instant’s Act,” Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays,” and Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Theme is a distinct, recurring, and unifying quality or idea that is the subject of a particular composition and all three of the aforementioned poems have similar but distinct themes.…
- 1275 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
The poem, "Birches," by Robert Frost evokes all of the senses. Whether it is the rhythmic flow of the poem or the mere need to recite the words for a clearer understanding, the images that flood the mind are phenomenal. Imagery is an essential part of poetry. It creates a visual understanding of the overall meaning of the poem and gives a glimpse into the unsaid mind of Robert Frost. The imagery also paints a scene of cold wintry days and warmth of summer nights. Robert Frost, while knowing the realistic causes behind the bent birch trees, prefers to add an imaginative interpretation behind the bending of the birches. He also uses the entire poem to say something profound about life. The message that Frost could be implying is that life can be hard and people can lose there way, but there will always be innocence, love and beauty in the world if people look for it. Frost uses imagery to convey this meaning throughout the poem.…
- 1187 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
to themselves, Frost uses this to tell the story in ‘The Wood-Pile’ showing how this poem is moving forward it is an expedition. ‘The hard snow held me, save where now and then’ the words used here come across as very harsh as snow is normally soft not hard, this inflicts the change in the nature in the area of where the narrator is it always uses visual imagery so the picture of the woods is shown. ‘A small bird flew before me’ A technique that Frost uses is anthropomorphism which is used for the bird, as he shows him as if it is his "last stand".…
- 512 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Cited: Frost, Robert. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Literature A Pocket Anthology. Comp. R.S. Gwyn. New York: Penguin Academics, 2005. 616-617.…
- 1539 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
We start off the poem with Frost imagining a forest of bent birch trees. He wishes that the trees were bent by children playing on them, a nostalgic, childhood merriment that Frost once engaged in when he was a child, but we’ll get more into that later. Despite his lofty indulgence, he knows what really causes the birches to bend, and that is the “ice-storms”. Using this fact, he goes on to elaborate on the beauty of birch trees; such as comparing the falling ice from the trees as “crystal shells”, or as “the inner dome of heaven had fallen” and even going on to say the trailing leaves were “like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair before them over their heads to dry in the sun”. He tends to lose himself in this embellished fabrication…
- 218 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
During his life, Robert Frost, the icon of American literature, wrote many poems that limned the picturesque American Landscape. His mostly explicated poems “Birches” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” reflect his young manhood in the rural New England. Both of these poems are seemingly straightforward but in reality, they deal with a higher level of complexity and philosophy. Despite the difference in style and message, “Birches” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” are loaded with vivid imagery and symbolism that metaphorically depict the return to the nature and childhood, the struggle between reality and imagination, and also freedom and captivation.…
- 732 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Poetry is a clear and concise way to show the concentrated essence of poet's work, and nature is usually the fountain that poets get inspiration from. Nature should be a constant theme of poem, but not truth that people have already found out, because nature is changeable and unpredictable, and it gives human surprises; but truth is invariable rule. In the Romantics' thought, poetry works as "...image of man and nature" (Wordsworth Preface ex. 1). Romantic poets like writing poems about nature and animals then connect it with human beings. In the poem The Tables Turned (Wordsworth Tables turned Ex.), natural objects and wide animals appear almost in every stanza.…
- 1153 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” the writer was talking about slowing down to enjoy life. Too many people try to get caught up in life, but if they would just slow down and look around they might feel relaxed and safe. The evidence that I found to make me believe this poem was are slowing down for life was “To watch his woods fill up with snow, (Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, 2008)” and “The woods are lovely, dark and deep (Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, 2008)”.…
- 381 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
“The ambiguity Frost finds in nature becomes a metaphor for the ambiguity he finds in the Human experience” (1). This exposes us to one of Frosts my ideas on nature. He believes that nature is uncertain, unclear, and spontaneous. He makes a direct connection with this to humans, we, like nature, are unpredictable. In his poem Birches he uses the little boy playing in the trees to show the human experience and how it correlates with nature, in his poem Stopping by the Woods he uses the narrator just the same. Birches exposes us to a child who wishes to ‘capture’ the trees, “Frost may be suggesting that the boys need to subdue and conquer the trees points to the destructive side of human nature”(1). In Stopping by Woods something similar is shown; “My little horse must think it queer. To stop without a farmhouse near. Between the woods and frozen lake. The darkest evening of the year……. The woods are lovely dark and deep…” This is a direct quote from Frosts poem, in these stanzas (this is an excerpt from stanza 2 and 4) one can draw many…
- 1283 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays