Stopping by Woods on a Term Paper

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The use of enjambment has a similar effect, contributing to the sense of continuity and rhythm.

The speaker has made this journey before, and the stop now being made by the speaker is unusual, as is indicated in the second stanza as the speaker notes how his horse may find this "queer" because the speaker has chosen a place far from civilization. This is conveyed by ideas connected by enjambment:

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near (5-6).

The horse is here treated as another sentient being, while Nature on a quiet evening is snow and woods. The snow creates a white background that the listener can picture and that thus has a purity that is disturbed by those moving through it. This image might also be seen as another representation of life, as a clean slate that the individual makes of what he can.

The second and third stanzas depict the reaction of the speaker's horse, first as it may be puzzled that he has stopped, and second as he shakes his bells to ask if a mistake has been made. The first and fourth stanzas depict the reaction of the speaker. In the first section, the speaker reacts to the woods filling with snow by stopping to contemplate them, and in the last the speaker must make a decision.

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He is torn here between the peace and tranquility of the woods, described as "lovely, dark and deep" (13), and the speaker's own responsibilities. The failure to use enjambment at the end of the poem has the effect of coming to a stop, interesting in that the speaker in the real world should be doing the opposite and starting his journey once more. The last three lines are connected by commas and indicate a shift in thought, from the dark woods which are so enticing in the first line to the responsibilities and the reality of the speaker's life:

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before a sleep (14-16).

The repetition of the line 15 indicates a certain weariness, but at the same time it emphasizes the deeper meaning of the line by repeating it.

The speaker has been lured by Nature but has managed to continue his journey to live up to his responsibilities.

At this stage in life, he is torn between resting and keeping to his task. He has had a moment rest and contemplation, but now he returns to what he must do.

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