Stop by The Woods

Amita France D.
Jimenez
BABR 2-2D
Stopping byWoods on a Snowy Evening

By: Robert Frost
(Reader Response Analysis & Psychological Analysis)
Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963) is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed
American Poets. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life
and he's commend of American colloquial speech. His poetry reveals a seen interest
in varying the beauties of nature and the apparently small but deeply meaningful
joys and sorrows of ordinary men and women. His father was a teacher and a
journalist and his name was William Prescott Frost Jr. His mother was Isabelle
Moodie. He had a younger sister called Jeanie and the name of Robert Frost's wife
was Elinor Miriam White. During his lifetime, Frost received more than 40 honorary
degrees including four Pulitzer Prizes. At the age of 86, Frost was asked to write
and recite a poem for President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inauguration. he read the
porm "The Gift Outright," His famous works include 'The Road Not taken', 'Mending
Wall', 'Birches' and
'Stopping By Wood On a Snowy Evening'.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening was written in 1922 and published in 1923. The
poem was inspired by a real incident in a particularly difficult winter evening in
New Hampshire when Forest was returning home after an unsuccessful business trip at
the market. The poem consists of four identically constructed stanzas. Overall, the
rhyme scheme is AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD. It is rich in literary devices like symols,
metaphors, aliterations, personification etc.
Poetry is meant to be interpreted in many different ways. People argue about it all
the time and many will go back and forth over what the poem means and what the
authors meant by it. Frost can be deceptive with how simple his poems sound but
they feel quite deep and alluringly profound. By analyzing the poem, we can explain
what Frost's intentions work for this poem; the attitude and understanding of the
poem; and the relationship of the reader and poem.
Even though this is a short poem, there's a lot that we can read into its details.
It's about a man who stops by some woods to look at them in the snow and he says
that the man who owns the woods wont see him because he lives in a village . The
narrator thinks that his horse must be confused because this isn't a functional
place to stop and its very eerie and dark. The horse shakes its harness uncertainly
cutting through the silence all around. But as he observes his surroundings he
notices how beautiful it is and he starts to describe some of the features in very
calm and poetic waves of the wind blowing. The narrator reflects that the woods are
tempting but he can't relax there that he has responsibilities to keep.
Consider how wilfully the narrator comes into the scene at the beginning of the
poem and exits the scene at the end. Now how do we know if it�s a man speaking in
the poem? Well a lot of Frost�s poems tend to be autobiographical or at least
based on an experience of his so we can tend to assume it�s a male protagonist.
This echoes two themes that Frost uses together frequently, departure and freedom.
For Frost, freedom is established in departure. We free ourselves from the present
by escaping to somewhere else. During his life, Robert Frost addressed this many
times and stated emphatically that this poem is not about death nor does the
structure of the poem supports such a reading.
The narrator comes into the woods in the first stanza and leaves in the last
stanza. In second stanza, there's a stand of darkness wherein there are things
which cannot be seen because of extreme darkness. The third stanza tackles about
the things which cannot be heard in the silence. The final stanza indicates that as
soon as the narrator is captured by the beauty of nature he quickly snaps out of it
and realizes that he's got promises that needs to keep and he's got a long way to
go. For example is to rest and go to sleep. There is still much more to say about
the symbols in the poem, the horse, the lake, the woods etc.
The idea that it's really unusual for this person to be stopping in the woods
wherein this kind of conditions they'd keep going as fast as they can to get into
there shelter. Into this, maybe he doesn't want to reach his destination or maybe
that the woods and nature were just so beautiful that he had to capture that
moment. Or maybe he has a fascination with being on the outside and disconnected
from other humans and he quite likes being by himself.
The snow itself has some symbolic meanings and even some biblical allusions.
There's a bible verse from Isaiah 1:18 which says that even though the sins of the
people are scarlet, you will be made as white as snow wherein snow has always been
seen or represents purity and cleanliness. Furtheremore, maybe the reason why he's
stopping there is to cleanse himself or to clear his mind about life and his
thoughts so that he can continue on with his journey.
About the horse shaking his head, we can also infer that horses cannot understand
moments of beauty as it is a very humane and contemplative feeling. The underlying
topic is more about surrendering to a "deadly" moment of beauty rather than move
forward, take all responsabilities. However, the repetition of the last line gives
this idea of tiredness and we cannot deny stopping by the lake would be dying as if
he starts the poem thinking no one would find or see him there in the dark.
Looking at the poem, he describes the woods as lovely, dark, and deep. The fact
that he starts off by decribing this a lovely, it may suggest a mind frame that
maybe he's adventurous and quite satisfied that he'll be safe. Also, it may be
suggest that his psychological state doens't feel attracted to safety and would
prefer to enter into the darkness. The beautiful woods are a symbol of the tempting
distractions that make us forget our responsibilities and promises. In the poem,
the narrator cannot ignore his duties and reponsibilities. This is the eternal
conflict in everybody's life. We want to enjoy many pleasant things in life. But
our duties and obligations force us to go ahead neglecting the pleasant
distractions.
There�s an innovative and interesting viewpoint regarding the subject matter of

this poem. The poem has a profound message. It has different layers of meaning and
many critics interpret it in different ways. In a simple way as a reader, it can
be interpreted as the desire to be done with life. Though this poem is not about
death and certainly not about suicide. Far from that, the poem is about life, the
very journey that life takes us.

Stop by The Woods

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Stop by The Woods

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Amita France D.

Stopping byWoods on a Snowy Evening

There�s an innovative and interesting viewpoint regarding the subject matter of

You might also like