The poem dramatizes the conflict between nature and the worldly activities, Frost places emphasis on natural things and reinforces his point that natural things are much better and beautiful than the worldly things. The poem is extremely well written and it is written in monosyllables throughout. Lines like “My little horse must think it queer” and “the woods are lovely dark and deep” give an impression that the poem is all about suicide, the poet places emphasis on the fact that suicide is natural and it is much better than the worldly things which people engage themselves in. The first stanza of the poem has the speaker worried about the owner of the place where he has stopped, the same sets a mischievous tone for the rest of the poem because it can be made out that the poet is loitering around or even may well be trespassing. The alliteration in the poem can be seen in Alphabets like W and S. This is proven in the poem by the usage of the words like “Woods, Will, Watch” and “See, Stopping, Snow”.
The use of the word “Little” signifies the politeness of the poet; he is extremely subdued and polite. The first and the second stanza indicate that the poet is trespassing. The third stanza gives a good indication that the poet is away at a place which is extremely different from his usual surroundings. This is proved in the poem by the usage of words like “sound of the bell” and “The Wind” which a person rarely comes across in his daily life. The concluding paragraph conveys that the poet is extremely pleased with the serenity of the place and would love to stay for a longer time but he is restricted from doing so because he has his commitments to fulfill. “Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803-1849) wrote a poem entitled “The Phantom Wooer,” in which a ghost who loves a beautiful lady stands at her bedside one evening and invites her to join him in his quiet tomb, where “Our bed is lovely, dark, and sweet.” (Compare lovely, dark, and sweet with lovely, dark and deep.) Critics have cited this line to support their arguments that the traveler in “Stopping by Woods” considers entering the deep, dark woods to end his life.” (Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, 18 March 2009).
“Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” is a very beautiful poem written by an American Poet. Most of his poems presented a very good picture of nature. The same also goes to show that he was heavily influenced by nature. His work was appreciated and he was awarded many awards during his lifetime. This paper will throw light upon a poem written by him by the name “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”. The poem is supposed to be a masterpiece and fetched Robert Frost one of the four Pulitzer prizes which he won. The poem presents a very beautiful view of a place where the speaker has stopped, the speaker appreciates the beauty of the place but the speaker also realizes that he can’t stay there because there are many commitments which have to be fulfilled. The poem gives the readers a reason to think about how they are stuck between their commitments and because of the same they are not able to enjoy the beauty of nature.
Each line of the poem consists of Iambs, with four stressed syllables. The poem has a very good rhyme scheme, the first, second and the fourth paragraphs have rhyming words. For instance words like lake-shake, mistake-flake rhyme can be found in the third paragraph. The poem follows a rhyme scheme of a-a-b-a and was written in iambic tetrameter. The line “promises to keep” is a very important line with a lot of significance in it; it reminds the readers that the worldly duties have made them very isolated from nature. They have failed to enjoy the beauty of nature.
Some critics believe that the poem indicates the woods as suicide which is resisted by the speaker in the poem in order to go back to the worldly life. The same can be made out from the poem by the usage of the words life “lovely, dark and deep”, all these words indicate that the poet is suggesting all the readers to let go of the worldly life which they are living. The construction and the meter of the poem are impeccable and regarded as one of the best of all Frost’s poems. The last line of the poem indicates that the people are never ready to accept the reality which is death. “Miles to go before I sleep” Indicates the same; it indicates that the people are just not ready to acknowledge that the worldly things have restricted them from being connected with nature. When Frost was approached to comment on the real meaning of the poem he simply said that he wrote it upon stopping by snowy woods. The poem also indicates the death of Edward Thomas who was a good friend of Frost who died in the First World War
Frost indicates in his poem that the nature meaning of death is very beautiful but the people are so not ready to accept that it is much better than being busy carrying out the commitments a man has to carry out. Frost presents a very beautiful picture of nature and again places emphases on the fact that it is much better than being stuck in the worldly commitments.
References
Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening. In Cummings. 2009. Web.