...The Attraction of Woods on a Snowy Evening In Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, we follow what appears to be the traveler’s short journey through a beautiful snowy landscape. Words such as peaceful and serene come to mind. During the first few lines of this poem it seems as if this traveler has found an idyllic setting. However, upon closer examination, we have to ask the question of why this traveler has picked “the darkest evening of the year…to stop without a farmhouse near.” Does this traveler have other things on his mind beyond admiring the scenery? Let’s step into the setting of this poem and see what intentions this weary traveler had. Beginning with the title, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” the reader already knows that the traveler is stopping to admire the falling snow in this wintery land. Sounds pleasing enough, yet the very first line alerts the reader to the fact that the traveler is somewhat cognizant as to who’s woods he is journeying through. He goes onto mention that the owner of the woods won’t know he is there since the owner lives in the village. This seems to give some indication that maybe there is more going on in this traveler’s mind. Almost a hint that he is either trespassing on this land or maybe he just doesn’t want anyone to know what he is up to. The fourth line of this poem, “To watch his woods fill up with snow”, seems to be a turning point where the reader is taken from this idyllic setting to almost...
Words: 950 - Pages: 4
...English 112 Feb 11, 2013 "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is a poem written in 1922 by Robert Frost and published in 1923 The poet is masterfully painting photographic picture of the frosted woods in the country area, where frozen lakes and deep powerful forest and the traveler who is on his way home. The unknown rider pauses for a second to observe a frozen beauty of the falling snow and winter woods in the darkening evening. However, despite the attraction of the scene there is imminent danger to stay longer in the frozen woods, and even his "little horse" is resisting his attempt and eager to continue forward to the not mentioned, but definitely existing, nice and warn hugs of civilization, comfort of fire and hot food are waiting for the traveler and his horse. The poet pains spectacular photographic imagery of the poem and possible victory of the Duty and Love over the danger and death. The woods a lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep... Everything in this story: the theme, the speaker, and poetic technique is being designed by the poet to wrap a reader around like nice warm blanket that is waiting for him if he completes his journey. However, before the speaker will achieve his destination, he has a miles and miles to go through the cold frozen woods. The Speaker is a Rider on his way home. He lives in the...
Words: 935 - Pages: 4
...From the outline of the poem ‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening’, it begins with the speaker stopping by a small forest in the evening of deep winter. He savours the lovely view of the forest as he stops with his horse. The silence and tranquility of the wintry landscape captivate the speaker. Although he wishes to stay longer, yet realizing that he has ‘promises to keep’ and some distance to go, so he must move on. The poem comprises four stanzas and each stanza has four lines. The first three stanzas have a-a-b-a rhyming scheme. For example, in the first stanza, the first, second and fourth lines are in rhyme such as ‘know’, ‘though’ and ‘snow’. The exception is the final stanza where all the end of lines rhyme, such as ‘deep’, ‘keep’, ‘sleep’, ‘sleep’ because the last two lines are identical. If we carefully examine its pattern, the third line in each stanza always rhymes with the first line of the next stanza. Hence, this poem is written and arranged systematically by Frost. At first, the speaker is captivated by the scenery he takes in, particularly the woods covered with snow. While he stops, he is wondering whom this woods belong to. From the answering ‘I think I know’, it suggests that the woods is nothing new to him. Then, the speaker affirms that the landowner will not see him stopping there. By talking to himself, this indicates that the speaker is at remote distance from society and he is all alone with his horse. A sense of aloneness fills the mood of the...
Words: 1186 - Pages: 5
...*poem* --Robert Lee Frost-- Robert Frost was born in San Francisco on March 26, 1874. He moved to New England at the age of eleven and became interested in reading and writing poetry during his high school years in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was enrolled at Dartmouth College in 1892, and later at Harvard, though he never earned a formal degree. Frost drifted through a string of occupations after leaving school, working as a teacher, cobbler, and editor of the Lawrence Sentinel. His first professional poem, "My Butterfly," was published on November 8, 1894, in The Independent. In 1895, Frost married Elinor Miriam White, who became a major inspiration in his poetry until her death in 1938. By the time Frost returned to the United States in 1915, he had published two full-length collections, A Boy's Will and North of Boston, and his reputation was established. By the nineteen-twenties, he was the most celebrated poet in America.His Honors include 4 Pulitzer prizes. Robert Frost lived and taught for many years in Massachusetts and Vermont, and died in Boston on January 29, 1963. About Frost, President John F. Kennedy said, "He has bequeathed his nation a body of imperishable verse from which Americans will forever gain joy and understanding." *Major works if required* --Role as weary traveler-- the poem revolves around a weary traveler who is very tired of his duties and responsibilities and has stopped to take rest in the woods. He recalls the owner of the woods with...
Words: 358 - Pages: 2
...Poetry Essay Snowy Woods: a Peaceful Moment or Crucial Crossroads? An essay on Robert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening". "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening", when read casually, presents the reader with a quiet moment, a respite, a short break from a journey. Peaceful and sleepy it almost comforts the reader with its imagery and sense of calm. Yet under that calm is a lot of emotional undercurrent, similar to the surface of a frozen river. Its what's under the ice that is more interesting. Our main character, tells us in the first stanza that he has paused a moment (line 3). He has paused to take in a peaceful scene. The visual imagery of the woods filling "up with snow" (line 4) is rich. The snow is falling fast enough that it seems to be filling as he watches. How long does he pause? That depends on how fast the snow is falling. Long enough to see the "woods fill up" is what he says. The second stanza tells us that he has paused long enough that he's contemplating his horse's thoughts wondering what he thinks of standing there between the woods he is describing and a frozen lake (line 7) on an very dark evening. The darkest. (line 8) The third stanza makes us listen and asks the question, "Are we really supposed to be here?" (Line 10) We hear the horse shaking or tossing his head and correspondingly the harness bells jingle (line 9) and fade into the sound of a light wind and tiny pats of snowflakes landing. (Line 12) The fourth stanza tells...
Words: 902 - Pages: 4
...“Miles to go before I sleep” Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, is a few lines describing a man’s horse ride through the woods, but it speaks to everyone who reads it about major questions concerning their lives. In Stanley Burnshaw’s Biography, “Robert Frost”, he said, “In the great short lyrics of New Hampshire (1923) and West-Running Brook (1928)—such as “Fire and Ice,” “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and the title poem of the latter book—a bleak outlook on life persuasively emerges from the combination of dramatic tension and nature imagery freighted with ambiguity”. Frost was a powerful poet who used metaphors and imagery in his writings; for that reason most of his written work is discussed at the academic level and his work can often be...
Words: 1347 - Pages: 6
...in San Francisco, but spent most of his life in New England, as a teacher and farmer, in rural New Hampshire. Frost often uses natural elements in his poetry, especially New England landscapes. He uses seasons, flowers, fields, stars, and time of day to set a logical sequence of events to paint a psychological feeling inside the reader’s mind. Two of Robert Frost’s poems, “Desert Places” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, take readers through a New England winter setting, reflecting the beautiful scenery through his descriptive imagery. However, even though these two poems are set in a wintry backdrop, they convey very different tones. One has a feeling of loneliness, and the other a welcoming feeling of solitude. In this paper, I intend to illustrate how two very similar natural settings are written to express two very different themes of loneliness. The poems “Desert Places” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” have quite a few similarities. For instance, they both share the same rhythmic scheme; A,A,B,A. They both are set in a snowy, evening where darkness is taking over quickly. In both poems there is a man traveling alone, where no other souls are around. There is a sense that both travelers are stepping away from life for a brief moment in time. The contrast of darkness and whiteness against the horizon is apparent in both poems, however in “Stopping by Woods”, the depth of the darkness is inviting. In “Desert Places”, the whiteness of the snow is blank...
Words: 1058 - Pages: 5
...Thesis This poem at first glance is a simple depiction of someone on a beautiful winter journey and is often taken for granted. When studied closely it offers many interpretations using lovely and inviting descriptions of a beautiful picture but through dark elements of a cold, wintry scene lends a vast inventory of possible meanings. This poem reminds us of wanting to enjoy pleasures in life but concludes with the responsibilities and obligations of reality that awaits us. Setting The first stanza tells us of a beautiful and tranquil setting laced with dark indications through interpretation by the reader. The reader envisions and is attracted to a perfect landscape with snow covering the forest and entices one to stop to enjoy without fear of being caught trespassing on another’s property. The second stanza alludes to the darkness often associated with bleakness or gloom as well as the solitude of a winters night. This may be interpreted as depression or simply a desire to lose himself from the routine of everyday life. The woods may even be a metaphor representing risk, opportunity, or signifying the questions of life or the afterlife. The woods are located outside of the village, on the edge of civilization. The traveler is separated for a moment in time from society who would probably not approve of stopping in the dark and in the snow. The narrator indicated this would not be advised as the second stanza includes the response from the horse and...
Words: 761 - Pages: 4
...Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening Robert Frost 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. 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. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. 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. Sandra Barry Manilow She's a great little housewife Though sometimes she talks like a fool But she helps at the store in the holiday rush And she picks up the kids after school And she puts down the phone when her husband comes home And she changes from mother to wife 'Til she feels the words hanging between them And she hangs by her words to her life She says, I swear I love my husband, I love my kids I wanted to be like my mother But if I hadn't done it as soon as I did Oh there might have been time to be me For myself, for myself There's so many things that she wishes She don't even know what she's missin' And that's how she knows that she missed She's a sweetheart, except when she's moody It's hard to get through to her then Depressed for a while when the youngest was born Oh but that happens now and again She might take a drink with the housework Or when Michael's kept late at...
Words: 434 - Pages: 2
...season brings upon most people. The sounds that the person hears are sounds of joy and the undying spirit of children mixed in the utter quietness that we hear when we are alone in our thoughts. The end result of this poem is that there is always a place that we belong and always someone that is happy to us. Another tone to this poem is that we are always the loneliest when night approaches, but are able to see that we are not always alone when everything comes to light. The poem is written in the quatrain form consisting of four stanzas. While the lines in each stanza do not rhyme, all except the last stanza has the common ending of A hooded figure slowly walks alone. I wrote this poem in the fashion of Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy...
Words: 310 - Pages: 2
...Beauty, Life and Death Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on A Snowy Evening” is a simple and literal poem that has been interpreted and emphasized in many different ways. Frost tells a simple story that manages to get any reader to think about its scene and how profound this story can actually be. Many different opinions have been expressed as to what the poet was trying to convey in these lines; happiness, life, or maybe even death. The poem was written during the early 20th century, around the 1920s. According to an analysis done on this poem: “...Frost wrote the poem on a hot summer day...” (Gualdoni 2). Quite an interesting piece of information that questions why Frost would use a season opposite to the one he was currently writing through. The poem itself is written in iambic tetrameter so that 4 lines are grouped together in each stanza. There is a visible rhyme scheme and figures of speech that coexist within the piece. The first two lines in a stanza rhyme with each other while the third line stands to temporarily disrupt the balance, only to be followed by a fourth line with a rhyme that will match the previous two. A broad sense of imagery invites the reader to his/her imagination and calmly surrounds them in that cold winter night. In the woods with just his horse, the snow and a frozen lake, is a simple setting the poet used for this piece. The first few lines display a character that is in the middle of nowhere and mentions of an unknown person that the “woods”...
Words: 1518 - Pages: 7
...Frost, Where the Road Brings Us #201337029 English 1080 Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” both portray similarities in themes of the weight of realities, while taken place in a setting of nature. Each are about experiences in life in “The Road Not Taken” the speaker is youthful, making the decision to last a lifetime metaphorically portrayed by an autumn forest. He must overcome his mentality to succumb from the more beaten path in a road, showing his uniqueness to take the other. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” where as Frost uses an older speaker, more grizzled and experienced in life. The speaker also experiencing a choice, seeking a life without struggle in isolation he then reflects upon his responsibility towards the society. In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker stumbles upon a choice that will effect him forever. The poems talk of the speaker coming to a fork in his path, whereas now he has to choose one way or the other. This intersection in the road is a metaphor to all the decisions we have to make in life, and how easily it could alter with just by starting down a new path. The speaker thinks about his choices and feels that whatever path he takes; he will have to take for good. The speaker feels strongly that he must think really hard upon what path to take, so he doesn’t end up regretting his choice. “And looked down the road as far as I could...
Words: 1006 - Pages: 5
...Robert Frost, writing as the narrator in the poems “Birches” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is comfortable in the countryside and portrays an enjoyment of nature on the surface. When these poems are examined more in depth the narrator becomes much more complex, showing that there is a deeper and darker undertone to the pleasant words and cadences of the poems. The narrator has experienced pain and sorrow during his life and finds that his suffering makes the contemplation of death both fascinating and tempting. Also, the narrator has considered the peacefulness of death but has decided to pursue life and the choices that one faces along the path of life. Initially the poems “Birches” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” show the narrator as a simple man of the countryside. “Birches” is set “too far from town to learn baseball” (25). This suggests a place far from town and set deep in the country. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is set in a remote woods, far from any homes. Each location in the settings of the poems is remote and far from city life. This suggests that the narrator is accustomed to the countryside and its way of life and that he most likely enjoys this type of life. The narrator also has an appreciation of nature. This is immediately evident in the fact that each poem is centered on nature and uses the themes of nature to establish the narrator’s points. Each poem involves an interaction with nature, such as a ride in the woods...
Words: 1042 - Pages: 5
...POEM ESSAY Christol Council Liberty University Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening By Robert Frost Introduction The poem is a surprisingly complex poem with voice of the narrator describing the beauty of the snowy night. What drew the narrator to stop on this cold night? The literary breakdown of this poem is vast and gives the reader a sense of presence. 1. The woods • Whose woods were they? • What drew the narrator there? 2. The horse • Understanding with the rider • Yielding the rider to continue the ride 3. The rhythm • The rhyme of the poem • The story line Conclusion The ending of the poem leaves the reader the visual of the night. It is a simple but deep thought of the writer and the feelings behind the words. The poem written by Frost Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is a surprise of complexity. The first portion of the poem is giving the reader the visual through the eyes of the writer. It’s a snowy night and the narrator comes upon the woods it gives the impression what drew the rider to stop and admire the view. The view is without obstruction because there is no farmhouse to block the view the anticipation of the night and the view which gave a sense of peace to the rider. The sleigh rider introduces the feelings of obligations and his ability to not have such a wonderful view of such beauty of the woods. Frost is showing the emotions of the...
Words: 777 - Pages: 4
...Examining Robert Frost’s Poem: Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening William R. Spicer, Jr. ENGL 102 Composition and Literature April 23, 2012 Examining Robert Frost’s Poem: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening has been my favorite poem since the fourth grade. Mrs. Brown, my English teacher, discussed the poem during the week before Christmas break. The entire school was buzzing with excitement at the upcoming holiday and when she introduced the poem, it seemed like everyone and everything slowed and we were transformed to a quite snow-covered forest. The question I chose to answer is about the symbolism in the setting of this poem. In our text a symbol is defined as a person place or thing in a narrative that suggests meaning beyond its literal sense. The simplistic setting represents the author’s need for peace, rejuvenation and a reminder of home, before he starts out again on his journey. Few places can be considered as comforting and peaceful and lovely as a familiar forest covered in snow. Since the writer was not afraid of being alone I believe he must be very familiar with the forest and probably grew up near it. The wood behind my house was a very special place for me. In the summertime it was a place to build forts and have adventures with my friends. On cool summer nights, it’s where my friends and I would pitch a tent and tell scary stories by flashlight. My family and I would go on hikes and discover a new place...
Words: 757 - Pages: 4
