Poems can have different meanings and be interpreted in various different ways. One poem by Robert Frost is called, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. This poem is about a man who is on his horse on a winter evening. The man rides around and takes in his surroundings. Another poem Frost wrote was, “ The Road Not Taken”, which is about a man facing an important decision. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” shows a man who is gazing at the bright, fluffy snow that fills the woods. One can infer that the narrator wants to admire the beauty of the winter scene but, has to leave due to other responsibilities. Additionally, “The Road Not Taken” is about a man who comes upon two paths or decisions. He chooses the path that, at first seemed less traveled, but is worn just the same as the other path. The narrator may regret his decision later on as, it affected him greatly. The two poems have both pessimistic and optimistic tones, some having more than the other. Although one can say that there is a dark atmosphere with hidden meanings of death, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” develops a more optimistic approach because the poem shows a light, snowy atmosphere and the narrator has promises to people that must be kept. One of the reasons “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” can be seen as optimistic, is when the narrator watches the landscape. The poem says, “ To watch his woods fill up with snow” and “Of easy wind and downy flake”. Snow can be symbolized as
a "yellow wood" (1) when "two roads diverged" (1), that he had to make a
Discovering more of Frost's past life, it's no surprise that most of his poems revolve around the five stages of grief and loss. In understanding the process of grief , the poem "The Road Not Taken" seems to implement the stage of acceptance. In the first stanza, we are approached with two decisions "in a yellow wood", yellow meaning intellect, energy and wisdom . While Wood meaning tree, implying growth or a rapid increase in something. Tree's usually turn yellow in the fall, the season fall meaning death or dying, typically referring to a tragedy. Already knowing a positive decision will be made based on a rapid increase in death, we then turn to the next turning point "Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for the passing there had worn them about the same...".
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is a famous poem that many people are familiar with. In the poem the speaker arrives at a fork in the road where both paths are strewn with leaves. The speaker stands there for a time to contemplate which direction to take, and finally decides to take the plunge on the one less traveled. He comforts himself with his decision by telling himself that he can take the other road another day even though he knows this is unlikely to happen. The poem concludes with the speaker’s affirmation in his choice by acknowledging the importance of his decision. Frost uses the image of two roads diverging in a yellow wood to symbolize the choices that one is confronted with in life and the consequences of making decisions.
In Robert Frost's poem. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” the speaker uses literary devices to show the reader the poem's meaning. Symbolism plays an important role in this poem. Robert Frost uses symbolism to show the correlation between the woods and village with heaven. Mythological symbolism is also found in this poem. when the speaker talks about the lake. it is a reference to Hel in Norse Mythology. The tone of the poem, and Robert Frost's syntax. portray a tranquil yet dark feeling throughout the poem. The observations made exhibit how the speaker views life and death. The personification of the horse shows how the horse is important
How can an author effectively convey a universal message to the broadest audience possible? Simple. The author must simply create a completely impartial narrator, devoid of sex, status, or age. The Road Not Taken is a poem told by an impartial narrator who has come to a crossroads in his/her life. The crossroads is represented by a forked path that leads through a forest. The setting is also impartial; the forest is anytime and anywhere the reader desires it to be. The narrator is forced to make a life-decision, thus changing the course of his/her life forever. Symbolism and imagery are used effectively to reinforce the main theme of the poem.
In this poem, I believe the theme is that you have to jump at an opportunity when you get it, or you may never get that opportunity again. Moving on to the tone of the poem, I believe that it is wistful, and that the speaker might be looking back on his days, and realizing that he taking the other road might have made all of the difference in his life. There is very good diction in this poem, as some words express Frost’s feeling more than other’s would’ve. For example, in the line “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” (1), Frost really emphasizes the two roads separating from each other. In another line “In leaves no step had trodden black” (12), trodden is a more appropriate than another word such as crushed or pulverized, because it is the past form of trod, or to step in something, and gives an image of human feet stepping on the freshly fallen leaves.
why he stopped, may be he doesn’t know himself. May be, he is comparing the beauty of nature to something, but on a symbolic level, the snow strongly reminds me that the poem is set in winter, and which is also widely represented as the image of death.
Throughout the poem, Frost’s use of tone holds a large impact on the meaning of the poem. If the tone of the poem is misinterpreted, the entire mood of the poem is altered. The tone is recognized before the poem even begins: through the title “The Road Not Taken,” Frost imposes the idea that the speaker makes a decision and second guesses himself or herself. In addition to the title, the speaker says in the first
· But line 3 of stanza 1 becomes the rhyme sound for the first, second
Thesis: In the poem “A Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost shares how sometimes in life one has to make decisions rather they’re good or bad. However there are consequences following one’s decisions and choices. One can use their second chance by looking forward and choosing to take the right paths in life.
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost is an infamous poem written in 1916. In this poem, the persona is faced upon a significant decision. The setting takes place in the fork of a road in the middle of the forest, and the character must decide which path is most beneficial. It is quickly evident that as desirable as it may be, both paths cannot be traveled, and so the decision that is taken must be done with utmost consideration. After weighing in the aspects of each path, Robert Frost emphasizes that although life is full of decisions, each outcome will always be unique, and so one should always trust their inner instinct when deciding. This is often first observed in the title of the poem, which reflects on the path that was neglected. The meaning
On the contrary, in his poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Robert Frost suspects that each and every individual has a timely death and that people should strive to fulfill their commissions before giving in to death. Although still elaborate, his poem is a lot less emotional poem than Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” Frost primarily utilizes imagery to illustrate an experience to astutely share his beliefs. In short, his poem is about a gentleman travels into the woods with his horse one night, as described in the poem’s title. The man suddenly comes to know that he cannot afford to pass because he has something to fulfill before he gives into death.
Like “The Road Not Taken”, in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, the speaker has to make a big decision in his life. He has to choose between isolation and social obligation. At first glance, this poem might denote stopping in the woods to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. Different symbols in this poem though reveal that stop in the poem could be referring to death. In this phrase “Between the woods and frozen lake”, the wood becomes a symbol of life where frozen lake signifies death. When the speaker reaches the woods, he finds a world offering perfect, quiet and solitude, existing side by side with the realization that there is also another world, a world of people and social obligation. Both
Frost shows the readers that it is hard to choose something without knowing what will be the result, thus he wants to try both of the options to decide on something, when he says “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/ And sorry I could not travel both”. Whole poem is constructed of this metaphor, and every line refers to something in life. In the last part where Frost says, “I took the one less traveled by” he implies the idea that people wish to be different from others, thus they are prone to choose the option which had not been chosen by many other people. Instead of saying that he was having hard time deciding on a thing to do, Frost chose to use the metaphor of a road, which forced the readers to use their imagination to understand the real meaning behind what he
Q: In some poems what is described is given a meaning beyond the immediately obvious. Explore any one of the poems where this feature is most memorable.