Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”: An Analysis

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. Link to poem

The plain sense of the poem

Stanza 1- To Whom these woods belong Stanza 1- To Whom these woods belong? I think they belong to a man in the village, But he won’t see me stop here to watch The snow fall on the trees of his woods.

Stanza 2- My horse that I ride must be thinking It is strange to stop at this time of the night. I stopped in-between the woods and the frozen lake, On the night with no moon.

Stanza 3- The horse shakes the bells, As if he were to ask if I had made a mistake. There is no other sound in the woods Except the whistle of the wind.

Stanza 4- The woods are beautiful and dark, But I have many commitments to keep, And I have to travel a long time, A long way before I have time to rest.

The literal meaning and life

Images Your life? Horse bells Snow Woods Gone miles before you could sleep Which of these images remind you of something in your own life? Relationship to Life

The figurative and symbolic meaning Literal Figurative Woods Nature or wildness or irrationality or darkness. Sleep Death Village Civilization or responsibility Horse -criticizes speaker for stopping Domesticated part of society; civilization. -highlights society’s disapproval Rest too long while snow falls To lose one’s way or to die

Multiple Interpretations of this Poem A description of a man appreciating nature. The poem is about death. This poem addresses suicide. Nature-lovers see it as a piece that trumpets nature and that scorns civilization (take that, civilization!). You probably have your own idea of what this poem means. How does it sound to you?

Images Your life? Stopping to appreciate nature Death Suicide Nature vs. Civilization Which of these images remind you of something in your own life? Relationship to Life

Should I Care? Have you ever wanted to escape from the world for a little while? Perhaps to go watch some woods fill up with snow? Leave Facebook to accumulate friend requests and wall posts for you, let the e-mails pile up, record a mischievous away message on your cell phone, stuff the homework, the papers, and the tests under the bed? Well, then this is a poem for you. Sometimes we crave a little vacation from responsibility. Sometimes we get hungry for alone time like the speaker does in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." In a world in which we are constantly stimulated by the Internet, TV, phones, and ads, and in a world in which we are busy little bees, do we get to spend much time alone anymore? Do we have time to stop and smell the roses?

The form of the poem: The poem is a lyric; it narrates personal feelings and it is musical. The music in the poem is achieved by the meter (the rhythmical pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse) The rhyme is aaba bbcb ccdc dddd.

A simile: a comparison with the use of “as” or “like” Oh! My love is like a red red rose A metaphor: a comparison without the use of “as” or “like” Oh! My love is a red red rose A symbol: an implicit reference that allows for different interpretations Oh! My red rose