The Meaning of Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening Essay

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Robert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening"

While appearing to be a simplistic poem, it is argued that "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost is a deceptively meaningful. Using the content and style of the poem, along with consideration Frist's own views on poetry, it is hypothesised that the poem is a reflection of the ever present strain of social obligations and expectations. An outline of the paper is as follows.

Introduction to the poem the poem was written in 1922

tells the story of a narrator stopping in snowy Woods was on their way to a destination deeper meaning indicated by poem construction different commentators give different interpretations

The first verse

simple start setting the scene, aligned with Frosts' own location in New England

b. Indication of social conventions, including property ownership

The middle versus

a. Further information is provided, such as it being the darkest night of the year.

b. Poem follows a similar pattern to other, with a progression from the setting into observed action

c. The horse is the presence of a "foil," providing an alternate perspective to the main voice.

4. The last verse

a. Change in the rhyming structure, with last two lines being the same, and all four lines rather than three rhyming.

b. Some commentators interpret the reference to sleep, following reference to the darkest night as indicating suicide.

c. However, interpretation should also be considered in the context of the author

5. The poetic style

a. Frost argued poem should start with delight and endless wisdom.

b. If poem concludes with wisdom, suicide would be an uncomfortable fit.

c. In The Mowing, Frost observes that "anything more than the truth would have seemed too weak." "

d. Therefore, poems speak the truth. In the context of social conventions, and the obligation in the last verse referred to "but I have promises to keep," the poem is most likely to refer to the social obligations with the lines "and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep"

Text

In 1922, two years before he won the Pulitzer Prize, Robert Frost wrote the short, and seemingly simple poem "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" (Panini, 1998). However, while the poem, which tells a short story of the narrator stopping for a while in snowy woods, while on his way to another destination, gives the appearance of a simple poem, an examination of both the format and the content may indicate a deeper meaning (Ciardi & Williams, 1975). This deeper meaning is indicated by the construction of the poem, which appears to flow effortlessly but adopts a complex form providing versus of four lines, where three lines rhyme (Ciardi & Williams, 1975). This is far more complex than the traditional four line rhyming practice, providing two sets of rhymes in alternate lines (Ciardi & Williams, 1975). The question is what could that meaning be? Montiero (1988), argues that the poem can versus with the translation of Dante's Inferno by Longfellow, echoing similar images and providing a motif of a decision to be made between two paths. Grey (1990) also sees a motif of duality, contrasting between night and day, and realistic and romantic attitudes. However, it is possible to dig even deeper when examining the poem by looking at motifs and symbols that are present and seeking an underlying meaning. Therefore, it is the hypothesis of this paper that Frost's poem is reflecting the problems and ever present strain of social obligation and expectations.

The poem starts by setting the scene, telling is where the narrator is providing a context. The first line reads "Whose woods these I think I know" (Frost, 1922). This simple statement, which reads easily, gives the reader a great deal of information, it tells us the narrator is in the woods, knowing Frost came from New England, it is possible to ignite the imagination immediately, with a picture of New England woods. Although the first line does not tell as it is snowy, this is indicated in the title, giving a relatively comprehensive picture. However, the first line also gives the first indication of social conventions and obligations; the narrator also indicates the concept of ownership, stating that he thinks he knows the owner of the woods. The concept of isolation is then created, as the next line reads "His houses in the village though" (Frost, 1922).

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The ability of the rider to stop there without anybody knowing is seen in the third line "He will not see me stopping here," with the poems fourth line then providing the third rhyme of the verse "To watches is woods fill up with snow" (Frost, 1922).

The first verse is clearly setting the scene, which allows the subsequent verses to draw the reader in, providing more information. The simplistic reading of the poem may indicate the story of a man, on a journey. The second verse give more information, the narrator is on the house, and stopping on the darkest evening of the year. The movement of a poem in this manner, from a general description into more specific details indicating a meaning beyond simple description well established in former works (Ciardi & Williams, 1975). For example, this has been seen in "Before Disaster" by Yvor Winter, and "the Chambered Nautilus" by Holmes (Ciardi & Williams, 1975). The progression Frost's is similar, but not only did it add more detail, it appears to provide progression through further action is being observed. This pattern continues into the third verse, where Frost indicates the narrator believed the horse may be questioning why they have stopped, the first two lines of the third verse read "he gives his harness Highness spells a shake, to ask if there is some mistake" (Frost, 1922). In the imaginative picturing of the scene, demonstrating the isolation is reinforced by indicating the only other sound apart from the harness spells of the horse is the sweep of the wind and the snow.

The potential clues to the deeper meaning become clearer in the fourth verse, where there remain simple lines, but the conventions of the provision of understanding resolution is provided in an ambiguous manner, and two lines are repeated (Ciardi & Williams, 1975). This repetition may be interpreted as emphasising the importance of the last two lines, which provide insight into the meaning of the work. Therefore, if one can determine Frost's intentions regarding the last two lines, a greater insight may be provided to the poem. This ending has even resulted in some commentators believing that the poem is about suicide, with previous lines referring to the darkest nights of the year, and the poem's last lines referring to a journey into sleep (Panini, 1998). However, to interpret images not only necessary to consider the words themselves, and the potential presence of symbols and metaphors, but also the ideas of the poet in his own views on poetry, and how poems should be created. Frost argued that a poem should begin with the delight and end in wisdom, supports the idea of a deeper meaning, as the simplistic interpretation would hardly provide wisdom (Walcott, 1996). In many instances, traditional approach towards prose results in moralistic wisdom provided, creating closure for the poem (Walcott, 1996). Importantly, this is not the case with this poem, which does provide a conclusion, but the conclusion create as many questions as it answers. Indeed, it may be argued that it would not be too amiss to place question marks after the last two lines, rather than the more simplistic grammar provided. As if to emphasise the importance of this last verse, the pattern is also changed, with all four lines rhyming.

Frost also argued that it was important to refrain from over complicating the poem, as stating in "The Mowing," that writing "anything more than the truth would have seemed too weak" (Ciardi & Williams, 1975). This clearly demonstrates the way in which poetry can benefiting gain from the utilisation of understatement, facilitating the use of imagination and interpretation on the part of the reader (Ciardi & Williams, 1975). Therefore, the words themselves should provide an indication of the meaning. Frost utilises a "foil," in the poem, with a foil being a character that is able to play against the most important actor in the work, and provide a different perspective, causing the main character to react (Ciardi & Williams, 1975). In this case, the foil is the horse, who is seen to potentially question the actions of the narrator in stopping in a secluded area, away from the rest of society. This is seen with the line "the horse must think it queer" (Frost, 1922), and is confused why the narrator may have stopped (Ciardi & Williams, 1975). This starts to introduce the presence of.....

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