Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost ~ Poetry Anthology #2

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost

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.

Meaning and Theme:
This poem represents a man who enters the woods, “To watch his woods fill up with snow” (4). Luckily, even though he’s trespassing on someone else's land, he won’t get caught. That’s because in lines 2 and 3 it’s stated: “His house is in the village, though; / He will not see me stopping here.” Moreover, this is a lonely poem, for the narrator finds himself far away from other people. He’s partly satisfied with this aloneness, however, and is glad that no one is there to watch him. For instance, in line 3, “He will not see me stopping here,” the speaker explicitly states how he is glad to not have people near him. I think that he'd rather be all by his lonesome in the freezing cold than back in the village. Nature helps make things even lonelier, too, for the woods happen to be (as in line 13), “...dark and deep.” The theme present in that loneliness is how isolation isn’t always a bad thing. You should just stay calm when you are alone and truly appreciate the segregation. On the other hand, there is a theme of choice that appears in this poem as well. During this poem the speaker makes choices that his horse doesn’t agree with. An illustration of that is in lines 9 and 10, “He gives his harness bells a shake / To ask if there is some mistake.” Whether to return to the warmth and safety of the village or to stay and watch the woods fill up with snow is the largest choice he has to make. Our speaker does seem to have a hard time making this decision. He ultimately decides to return home, but it seems to take all of his willpower. I believe that the implicit meaning to this poem is how you should make the choice that you have to make, even if it is the more difficult path. Most of this poem describes how the narrator wants to stay in the words but has, “...promises to keep.” Therefore, proving that this guy is forced to make a decision he doesn’t really want to make.

Imagery:
Definitely the largest image in this poem is a forest with a snowy climate. For example, line 4 says, “To watch his woods fill up with snow.” He stands, “Between the woods and frozen lake,” on, “The darkest evening of the year.” That image is used to explain the primary theme of solitude in this poem. Projecting an illustration of zero civilization to the reader. However, another image is represented by this poem: This man isn’t completely alone, he has his trusty pony alongside him. In line 5, it is voiced: “My little horse must think it queer,” proving that he does indeed have a pony with him.

Rhyme and Meter:
This is a poem using a quatrains with AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD rhyming schemes and iambic tetrameter base meter. All rhymes are perfect end rhymes. In each quatrain the first, second, and fourth lines rhyme. However, the third line doesn’t rhyme with the other lines in the stanza it’s in. When a new quatrain begins, the first, second, and fourth words rhyme with the third line of the preceding stanza. This is called chain rhyming. Although, the last stanza is an exception to this. Every line in the final quatrain rhymes together - no new rhyme is introduced. Therefore, Frost is letting us know the poem has come to an end. Most of the words used are monosyllabic. Usage of monosyllabic words helps to keep the pace steady and make the poem sound simpler than it really is. Those two things are what I believe to be Frost’s intentions with this poem. One example of internal rhyming is seen in line 3, “He will not see me stopping here,” (the words he and me are rhyming).

My Feelings:
In my opinion, this is the greatest poem I’ve ever read! Not only does it maintain a constant rhythm and rhyme, but it has deep and meaningful themes to it as well. For example, the theme of being alone relates to my life incredibly well. For the duration of the grades six and seven, I would have short realizations that maybe everyone else around aren’t my friends. I may view them as my peers, but they might feel different. A belief that people didn’t care about my improvement in life. A belief that some people wished I would stay a five mile radius away from them. Nowadays, I’ve found my trusty pony the same way that this speaker has. Someone who has guided me towards the right path and speaks up when bad things happen.