While Robert Frost is often portrayed as a regionalist poet, whose focus typically turns to the simplicity and beauty of the New England landscape, many of Frost’s poems have an underlying darkness; “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” a seemingly simple glimpse into the beauty of a winter night, is in both content and form a metaphor for the contemplation of suicide.
The title of the poem suggests a familiarity, with the narrator “stopping by” the woods, a neighborly phrase that suggests that he has been in this place before (Saunders). The woods symbolize death and oblivion, and as such, it’s implied that this is not the first time that the narrator has considered death and taking his own life. It is a sentiment echoed in the opening
…show more content…
The poet could have used the word longest in place of darkest, as they contain the same number of syllables, the with the stress in the same location, however Frost chose the word “darkest,” a word that carries heavier undertones. Therefore, the phrase is more likely symbolic of the feeling of deep depression. This stanza is symbolic of the narrator reconsidering his contemplated suicide as a decision that he should not make when he is in such a lonely place at such a dark hour.
The horse “gives his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake,” symbolizes the breaking of the spell, or the shaking of the conscience; it is the equivalent of shaking one’s head to remove unwanted thoughts (Norton 245). The horse, or the narrator’s conscience, is suggesting that he’s making a mistake. The harness bells are the only sound beyond the “sweep of easy wind and downy flake,” symbols of how simple and peaceful death would be with the term “downy” evoking the imagery of comfort (Norton 245). The stanza serves as a turning point in the poem, where the narrator’s conscience is louder than his desire to be lost within the woods.
In the final stanza, the narrator reaffirms the temptation of the woods, the temptation of death, saying that “the woods are lovely, dark and deep,” a welcomed oblivion (Norton 245). However, he decides that he has “promises to keep,” other obligations in his life that he is unwilling to leave behind, even
The speaker meant that he still had not reached his destination and the woods were to disrupt him from fulfilling the promise to meet the beautiful one. I think the speaker must have made a promise to a beautiful lover whom he was on the way to meet.
Frost affects the tone through word choice because he uses the word “perish” to give emphasis of the world vanishing. Instead of using words like disappear or leave, he uses perish because it gives the poem a stronger meaning. He also uses the word “destruction” to give the poem an intense feeling. By using this word, he makes the poem deeper and stronger than it already is.
In Bryson’s story ,A Walk in the Woods Bryson uses similes, imagery and humor to describe his reasoning of going in to the woods. A Walk in the Woods has a tone of reverent which corresponds with his desire to venture into the woods. Bryson compares the Appalachian Mountains to a grandfather, “The AT is the granddaddy of long hikes”. By his comparison of the Appalachian Mountains to a grandfather gives the reader that mountains to him was like a matriarch of a family that was the foundation to all hikes that came after it.
The speaker decides to ask themselves what they brought “to the dance” (19). The question is metaphorically used to ask what the narrator gave to nature. The narrator then explains in lines 19-22 that they have a letter in their pocket from a woman they do not know, that gives bad news about something they cannot do anything about. This shows how nature is constantly asking for the narrator to offer it something back in their relationship. Yet the narrator feels as if they do not know what to give back to the universe or feels as if they owe it nothing at all. In line 23 the speaker states that they wonder the woods “half- sightless.” This implies that the narrator almost to their breaking point of finding something to give back to the relationship they have created with nature. They no longer know what to do so they continue to wonder the woods like a lost dog. The previous quote also lets the reader assume the emotional state of the narrator. The speaker is lost and feels unsure about themselves. The author uses personification when they state that “the pines make a music like no other” (25, 26). The pines are the only thing that keeps the narrator going after the speaker has given up on looking for something that will please nature. Levine’s speaker leads the reader to assume that the next day is soon to begin when they state that the pine’s music is like a “surf at night that calms the darkness before first light” (26-29). Soughing can be
The two poems “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Acquainted with the Night” written by Robert Frost are very similar to each other because of the simplistic form of language used and the uses of metaphors. When we first read the poem, it looks like an ordinary poem but once we go in depth and understand the meaning, it becomes so much more. Both of the poem has a very dark, gloomy and lonely setting with a really mysterious tone. There are different metaphors used in each poem to symbolize death; “Sleep” in “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Night” in “Acquainted with the Night.” The characters in the two poem are both in a journey and has come
The Use of Literary Devices in Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Imagery was also used in the poem. I found that the yellow in the first line represented that the future the writer was facing was bright and warm regardless of his choice. The undergrowth was, as undergrowth in any forest, damp and dank smelling, but not necessarily unpleasant, just something that the writer would have to face. The image of traveling through a forest also brings to mind thoughts of birds in flight, chirping and singing. Squirrels dashing through trees, rustling leaves and dropping the occasional acorn or nut also create an image of sight and sound. The sun reflecting through the trees, casting shadows and creating pockets of warm and cool air and the occasional breeze stirring through the trees are also brought to mind by this poem. The end of the poem brings to me
The speaker's depression stems mainly from his unwanted responsibility and feeling of regret. The basic conflict in the poem, which is resolved in the last stanza, is between an attraction toward the woods and the drudgery of life and responsibility outside of the woods. "And miles to go before I sleep,/ And miles to go before I sleep" (line 15-16).
In the next four lines, the speaker goes on to express the isolation of the woods and on the winter solstice, or “the darkest evening of the year”. The speaker lays the responsibility of saying that it is strange to be her on his little horse who “must think it queer”. The speaker is in isolation in the growing dark, yet he stops and stays in the lonely woods. The line, “between the woods and frozen lake” gives a sense of being trapped and having no escape. He is ensnared between the ever growing foreboding of the woods and an icy expanse that could prove deadly. Also, throughout history, the winter solstice has been a night of superstitions, of fear and loathing. It seems strange that with all of this, the man still desires to be alone in a dark wood when he has a long way to travel yet before he gets home. In a way, the speaker is intentionally isolating himself from society.
Many people believe that this mimics Whitman's life. Living in a life of social separation much of the time, he still managed to succeed not only with his writing, but also in life itself. However, in line five Whitman goes on to say that he wonders how the tree could grow such joyous leaves while being alone. He himself says that he could not survive if put in the same situation. Whitman did however lead a joyous and happy life in many peoples opinion, even though he did not enjoy the social life many other had during his lifetime. His own opinion of himself not being lonely may be frayed in order to spare the image he proposes to the public in his writings. The next few lines are interesting because of the way they could possible spell out Whitman's life. In the poem, he breaks of a twig, wraps some moss around it, and takes it to he room and places it in plain view. This may parallel his life by way of his memory. The twig may represent pieces of his memory that were enjoyable to him. He then takes the twig and places it in his room signifying that he wants to be able to constantly see those fond memories. Again Whitman replies by saying he did not do this to remind him of his friends, but in reality he may have just said this to help keep a good report with his readers about his lifestyle.
The night symbolized death, and the walk was the person's journey to find their lost life. This poem was somewhat disturbing to me. I thought of a lost soul, thirsting to finish a mission that was not completed in life. Frost depicts death in a frightening manner with the contents of this piece of work.
Winter is a time of cold, when forests die and animals hide from the shrieking winds and biting cold. Winter is a time for survival against the odds. How apt that the speaker is struggling against the "lovely, dark and deep" woods to remember that he has "miles to go before [he] sleep[s]." The "easy wind" calls to him, and the "downy flake" beckons him to a comfortable sleep. If the speaker had paused on a bright summer day, the sleep might be just a short rest, but the poem is set on the "darkest evening of the year" while the "woods fill up with snow," and any rest taken in the "lovely, dark and deep" woods would result in the eternal sleep of death (474).
This is significant because it emphasizes the melancholy and mournfulness that he depicts with imagery in the first stanza. Later on in the second stanza, he author describes the tree the narrator would have planted as a “green sapling rising among the twisted apple boughs”. The author uses visual color imagery of the color green to describe the sapling in order to emphasize just how young the newborn was when he died. Later on in the poem, the narrator speaks of himself and his brothers kneeling in front of the newly plated tree. The fact that they are kneeling represents respect for the deceased. When the narrator mentions that the weather is cold it is a reference back to the first stanza when he says “of an old year coming to an end”. Later on in the third stanza the author writes “all that remains above earth of a first born son” which means that the deceased child has been buried. They also compare the child to the size of “a few stray atoms” to emphasize that he was an infant. All of these symbols and comparisons to are significant because they are tied to the central assertion of remembrance and honoring of the dead with the family and rebirth.
The last line changes the whole perception of the poem. It tells the reader, she was telling the story to someone she cares greatly for. “As free as I would feel when your love would surround me.” (Line 16) It is now realized that the speaker was comparing her strong connection to the woods to another person. This poem is a free verse poem. The author uses
Poetry is a literary medium which often resonates with the responder on a personal level, through the subject matter of the poem, and the techniques used to portray this. Robert Frost utilises many techniques to convey his respect for nature, which consequently makes much of his poetry relevant to the everyday person. The poems “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and “The mending wall” strongly illuminate Frost’s reverence to nature and deal with such matter that allows Frost to speak to ordinary people.