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 sounds 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.
Analysis:
This poems subject can be thought of a few different ways. One way is very literal; a man or woman is walking through the woods with their horse when they stop to take in the beauty of the calm night. They want to stay and enjoy it longer, but they remember how far they still need to go before they can go home and sleep, so they continue. Another interpretation is much deeper and is more of a psychological phenomenon. The last lines “and miles to go before I sleep” can be interpreted to be about death. Miles to go is a symbol for life’s journey and sleep is a symbol for dying. This could then mean that the “woods” has another meaning as well. If the person was so captured by the woods and didn’t want to leave, this could also be a metaphor for something happy. It could be a thing or place that they want to enjoy or stay at forever but know they must leave to continue in life. It could also mean a place away from society where it is free of judgements, since the line “my horse must think it queer to stop without a farmhouse near” shows how it is weird to be away from a farmhouse (society). This poem can seem very literal at first, but the more it gets analyzed, the more meanings it takes.
The narrator is speaking to themselves in their heads. They are thinking that they want to stay in the calm snowy woods, but then remember all the things they still need to do. The writer uses very simple words, but they still give a strong sense of the setting. He uses many adjectives like dark, deep, downy flake, easy wind, and frozen to help imagine what is going on. It relies heavily on imagery over other forms of figurative language to successfully recreate the experience in readers minds. There could also be some metaphors/symbols with the meanings of “miles to go,” “sleep,” and “farmhouse”. He also repeats the last lines twice which helps show the importance of the line. The tone of the poem is calming from the soft woods, but also dark and depressing because the person cannot stay there and must return to reality.
The poem follows iambic pentameter and has a rhyme scheme of aaba bbcb ccdc dddd. It has an end rhyme with the last word of the third line in each verse setting up for the first, second, and fourth lines rhyme in the next verse. Every line has 8 syllables. This poem has a closed form.
Music choice:
The song is instrumental without any lyrics in it to help imagine the setting. The man is alone with his horse in the woods, where it is calm and peaceful and no one speaking – so there is also no one speaking in the song. The song also has sounds of wind in it as well as other sounds of the outdoors. It has a feeling of a cold night which is also the setting of the poem. As well, there is the sound of horse bells during the line “He gives his harness bells a shake” to help imagine the whole scene.
Pictures:
This poem focuses on a lot of imagery, describing the sights and sounds around the man and his horse. A lot of the lines have a literal meaning, so the images that go with them are also quite literal to help with the imagery that the writer is trying to create.
Image 1 –
“Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though;”
This image is a simple picture of woods in a forest which the man is looking at. It helps imagine the location he is in.
Image 2 –
“He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.”
This image shows the man and his horse stopped, gazing out into the woods. This line is very literal and so is the image to go with it.
Image 3 –
“My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near”
This image shows a horse by itself, standing in a snowy forest. The horse almost looks like it is thinking and confused, gazing into nothing but still calm, which matches with the line.
Image 4 –
“Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year”
This image shows the man and horse at the edge of the lake and forest. The sky is very dark just like in the line. This line could also be taken very literal, therefore so is the picture.
Image 5 –
“He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake.”
This is a picture with a horse looking like it is shaking its sleigh bells, which is what is happening in the line.
Image 6 –
“The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.”
This is a picture of snowflakes that looks like they are falling softly and calmly. The image looks very quiet, which helps show how quiet it really is while the man is standing in the woods.
Image 7 –
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep,”
This image is another picture of snowy woods to again, help with the imagery that the writer creates.
Image 8 –
“And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep”
This picture shows a path of feet walking along snow towards a tree. It could represent the path the man needs to take before he can get home. It could also represent his path of life before he can “sleep” (die) with the tree having no leaves being the end of his life. He must live his life fully before he can make it to the tree and die.
PowerPoint: