In Robert Frost's poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," from his book entitled New Hampshire, the poet descriptively evokes a bucolic New England winter atmosphere (which Frost knew quite intimately) and uses a simple narrative soliloquy focusing on a rural traveller, who "stops in the woods on a snowy evening", a commonly understood and easily identifiable situation. These textual choices are used for the purpose of subtly and intelligently articulating and arriving at large-scale existential conclusions regarding the human condition. In this poem, which is described by Elizabeth Sergeant as "The clearest and most perfect of [Frost's] lyrics" (249), and which was written, as the poet himself explained "...in a stroke of the pen" (249 ), Frost uses language that is at once: simple and grandiose, superficially accessible and metaphorically rich, vague and specific, apathetic and emotionally charged, carefully articulated/witty and in common parlance, and ultimately with a flawless execution of what he describes as “…performance, skill and associative feats.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Frost uses language that is highly ambiguous and at the same time densely complex metaphorically or analogically. Lawrence Thompson describes these lyrical characteristics as "New England reticence and a passion for understatement" (123), and works to provide some key words (i.e., "promises," "miles," and "sleep") dualistic and distinct "inner planes " (123) of interpretation and connotation. Furthermore, this structural methodology, while often making it difficult for the reader to arrive at the author's original intent with certainty, allows each reader to "unlock the metaphor" (123) so that they can establish their own personal connection with the text. It is this lyrical mastery that brings readers back to the works of the great poets of previous generations, despite the difference in time. These successful texts and insights remain fresh after countless readings, serving as existential narratives and never appearing anachronistic in emotional intensity and verbal richness. The first three stanzas of "Stopping by Woods" give credence to the poet's masterful descriptive lyric sophistication and do justice to the poet's famous observation on the theme of poetry, that "Like a lump of ice on a hot stove the poem must ride out its own melting ." However, the fourth stanza of the poem most brilliantly personifies Frost's core essence, as the lines: The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to walk before sleeping. (13-16). Masterfully articulating the poet's subtle and complex emotional state and the careful employment of wit that "...will forever maintain the freshness [of the poem] as a metal maintains its fragrance", infusing "Stopping by Woods" with the essential ingredients to enable him to "manage [his] associative fusion". “Stopping by Woods,” a poem written as if addressing an unacknowledged friend, appears to be, on the surface, a simple dramatic soliloquy. The speaker is traveling on horseback through an unidentified rural area on a dark, snowy winter evening and decides to stop and reflect on his surroundings. In doing so, the speaker becomes captivated by the lure of the natural world of "woods [that] are lovely and dark and deep" (13), and is immediately overcome with feelings of complacency and satisfaction at having been momentarily withdrawn from civilization. . However, the speaker triumphs over this fascination with nature (infor better or for worse) and is committed to continuing to travel, despite his inclination and desire to prolong his stay, as well as his probable physical and psychological tiredness. Frost's speaker's situation amid the snowy rural woods, a microcosm of the natural world from the poet's New England perspective, serves as a symbolic representation of a place of quiet respite and escape from the fast-paced and complex modern world. Ironically, while the speaker appears to gain a moderate refuge from the everyday concerns/responsibilities of the "Stopping by [the] Woods" civilized world, his presence alone actually acts to impose mundane or temporal concerns on the otherwise carefree and unhindered natural world. This idea is highlighted by the speaker's recognition that the woods he currently sees are someone's private property, as he explains "Whose woods these are I think I know. / His house is in the village; though;" (1-2), and so, like the speaker, the personified woods become subject to the whims and actions of humans. Structurally, "Stopping by Woods" comprises four stanzas of coherent iambic quatrains of nearly identical construction. The rhyme scheme, AABA, BBCB, CCDC, DDDD, is one in which the first, second, and fourth lines of each of the first three stanzas are in final rhyme, and the final word of the third line determines the rhyme scheme for the next verse. . The final stanza follows the established format in that its end rhymes are based on that of the last word of the previous stanza. However, the third line of the final stanza does not begin an end rhyme again, but rather concludes the poem with an unhindered continuation of the end rhymes of the fourth stanza. This somewhat peculiar rhyme scheme, in which the last word of the third line of the first three stanzas "predicate[s] the three sounds to be repeated in the next stanza, thus intertwining stanza with stanza" (Thompson, 84), serves to linking the first three stanzas together to form one seamless entity. This pattern, along with Frost's sparse use of punctuation in the first three stanzas, serves to guide the rhythm of the poem, as well as blend the stanzas into a surreal, dreamlike fabric woven of descriptive imagery. The speaker's frenetic, fantastical tone changes abruptly, however, upon arriving at the fourth stanza, into a more deliberate, hyperconscious characterization. This change is evidenced by the disjunction resulting from the influx of punctuation in the line "The woods are beautiful, dark, and deep," from the final commas to the conclusion of the last three lines, as well as the repetition of the entire penultimate line in the final line. Through these subtle syntactic techniques, the speaker symbolically approaches the realities of human existence and is forced to reflect on the consequences of his decision. As the speaker attends to the implications of his choice to reintegrate into human society, he assures his audience that he will remain true to his "promises." The final stanza of the poem, as well as the tone of the poem in general, perhaps alludes to the first stanza of a sonnet by Keats published in 1817, which reads: Sharp and irregular gusts whisper here and there among the bushes half bare and withered; the stars look very cold in the sky, and I have many miles to walk (Sergeant, 251). In both quatrains, the speakers describe the loss of a sense of reality in their respective nocturnal and bucolic environments. It is only after both speakers verbally affirm the need to move away from the dark woods that they are able to fight the call of nature and continue their journey back to the civilized world. George Nitchie explains that “…the human complications of responsibility and desire become poignant through theircontrast with the impersonal simplicity of nature" (22), as the charm of nature lies in its serene environment of carelessness and lack of responsibility. Thus, while the speaker is captured by "...watching the woods fill with snow" ( 4), "...the frozen lake" (7), "The darkest evening of the year" (8), "...the sweep / Of light wind and downy flakes" (12), etc., he seems to forget or at least is distracted "... from the world of social considerations and ethical complexity, the melancholy world of fallen man" (91), powerfully, though subtly and implicitly, encapsulated by the feelings provoked in the final quatrain of the poem Il forest constitutes an illusory place of retreat from the complexity that has plagued human existence since the biblical times of Adam and Eve. They evoke in the speaker a sense of nostalgia for a time when humanity lived in harmony in the natural world, free of worries. human (for example in the Garden of Eden or even during childhood). The speaker soberly acknowledges his responsibilities to human society, as captured by the subtly painful tone of the phrase "But I have promises to keep," (14) implying that practical considerations force him to practice self-control and act against his inclinations to live. the woods. Furthermore, the use of a winter landscape, as evidenced by numerous references to weather (“the frozen lake,” “the down,” “the darkest evening of the year,” etc.) brings both the speaker and the reader closer together beware that in the absence of shelter, the New England winter is not amenable to human habitation. Likewise, should the speaker fall asleep in these dire conditions, he will inevitably be subjected to nature's wrath, deprived of food, shelter/warmth, companionship, etc., and perhaps suffer an early death. These above-mentioned considerations, which are implied by the word "promises" in the final stanza, lead the speaker to the logical conclusion that he must move forward despite his strong emotional attachment to his surroundings. This decision, in light of the circumstances, highlights the speaker's agency and ability to act against his or her natural inclinations and highlights humanity's ability to practice self-control. However, Frost's repetition of "And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep." (15-16), raises the question of whether the speaker has, in fact, "taken" the right "path", as the final line casts doubt in the speaker's mind about his decision, serving as a reinforcement of his now irreversible course of action . Nitchie articulates this concern very lucidly, as, drawing on both “Stopping by Woods” and “Reluctance,” he explains that these lyrical statements “declare…it is betrayal of the heart to give in to necessity and to compromise on desire” ( 162). the speaker's "yearning nostalgia" (163) and the strong tendency toward dwelling in the natural world. Frost's deft ability to use language that is witty and metaphorically rich yet vague and somewhat generalized in its definitive meaning serves to infuse his poetic lyrics with a sense of novelty and personal meaning in any number of readings and in any context spatial or temporal. In this essay, I have aimed to express my personal response, after several readings in relatively quick succession, to one of Frost's most famous and masterful poetic texts, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," in order to highlight some of the ways in where you can carefully examine one of Frost's masterpieces. This type of poetic analysis can prove extremely rewarding for the reader, as unpacking the metaphorical and otherwise wit-infused language of a skilled poetic work resonates on a fundamental human level. Also, this one, 1961.