Stopping by the Woods On A Snowy Evening, Commentary

This poem was composed by Robert frost in 1922. It is narrative in style and consists of four stanzas, each stanza having four lines. Each verse is constructed in the iambic tetrameter, with eight syllables – one stressed and one unstressed syllable, alternately. As the title suggests, the poem features a journey through the woods. Frost is said to have composed this after a long night of work on another poem, ‘New Hampshire’. In the morning, when he stepped out of his cottage, it is said that he was so taken in by the scenic beauty of his surroundings that he was inspired to compose this poem there and then.

Critics have marveled at the beauty of the poem, it required little thought and came to Frost in short bursts of revelation. He composed it in a matter of a few minutes. Though the language or diction used by Frost is simple, it suggests at an altogether deeper meaning. Frost’s philosophy on life is reflected in this poem. The poem commences with an easy note and gives rise to wisdom later along. The persona and the author are clearly separated from each other into two different entities. The speaker is depicted at another time and place from that of the writer.

The persona is a way-farer who journeys through the woods which offer him temptations which he wants to indulge in but ultimately resists. There is a mysterious quality about the woods, and the persona wants to observe and explore it further but is held back by social constraints. The line ‘I have promises to keep,’ echo the obligations he has and he is forced to choose between nature and return to civilization. The title of the poem is apt and introduces the reader to the setting of the poem.

Assonance can be seen in the title which gives it a soft tone, the ‘s’ sound in words like ‘stopping’, ‘woods’ and ‘snowy’ reiterates this. The poem starts off with the persona plainly stating a fact, it makes the reader wonder on the persona’s acquaintance with the owner of the woods since he appears to know where he resides. The fact that the owner wasn’t there to watch how beautiful his woods looked at that particular time seem to concern the persona, his tone is that of credible surprise. The ownership of the woods attributed to another person reveals his longing for a place of such beauty.

The ‘w’ sound is repeated in line 1, ‘Whose woods these are I think I know,’ the ‘h’ sound also creates a hushed effect. It is as if the persona is addressing the reader about the owner of the woods in hushed tones. This indicates the persona’s appreciation and expression of feeling for natural beauty as seen in the lush woods. In this stanza, Frosts’ tone becomes matter-of-fact, and it is ironic that the persona who is just a passerby while the same appreciation cannot be sensed on the owners part. The last line of this stanza, ‘to watch his woods fill up with snow’ has visual imagery.

It conveys a sense of distance from civilization. The ‘snow’ signifies purity, an innate quality of nature. The second stanza deals with the persona halting in mid-journey. This brings on a reaction from his horse. The horse symbolizes a trained and habituated mind, stopping abruptly through the woods had brought a shadow of doubt, the horses’ sense of direction was at play. ‘Without a farmhouse near’ conveys a picture of the persona’s earlier doings, due to force of habit the persona had always sought shelter in an enclosed space like that of a ‘farmhouse’.

But now it seemed that he had simply stopped in a patch of clearing just to enjoy watching the sight of the woods. Lines 7 to 8: ‘Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year’, convey the particular time period when the persona records his halt in the woods. ‘Darkest evening of the year’ refers to winter solstice which normally occurs around mid-December. The persona and his horse are so isolated that nothing stands between them and the ‘frozen lake’.

The ‘frozen lake’ indicates the bitter cold and hardship they had had braved just so that the persona could revel in the tranquility of the woods for some time. This stanza also echoes how the persona marvels at his own marvel of the silent, still uninhabited sanctuary of nature which had taken him in, the speaker emphasizes this oddity by how his horse found it ‘queer’. The poem’s rhyme scheme is in order: AABABBCBA, and so on. The verses are almost uniform in length and open-punctuation has been used.

Each verse starts with a capital letter indicating the beginning of a new line and there are no instances of enjambment. The third stanza starts off with the horses’ objection, ‘to ask if there is some mistake’. The horse’s reasoning ability and intelligence has been brought out, it is a best of habit and also of considerable intelligence. Through his narration of the horse Frost has also brought to light his appreciation of animals in particular. The penultimate line of the stanza emphasizes the stillness of the woods. Sensory imagery has been used in ‘easy wind’ and ‘downy flake’.

A hyperbole or an exaggeration on the nature of snow has been employed. It is worthy to note that snow doesn’t make any sound. The last stanza expresses the persona’s desire to explore the woods further. He’s held back by unfinished business (‘promises’) and knows that he can’t afford leisure. ‘Lovely, dark and deep’ calls attention to the fact that he can’t afford to indulge in the awaiting pleasures of the woods. There is a sense of purpose in the persona’s life, the persona gathers himself and sets off towards his destination.

He knows that he can’t allow himself the luxury of exploring the mysterious depths of the woods and stray away from his goals. The last two lines are direct repetitions of each other, ‘sleep’ can connote two different meanings. The first mention of ‘sleep’ can refer to rest and relaxation, while the latter can also refer to the ‘sleep’ of death. This meaningfully signifies that he has many things left to do and that he can’t afford to be held back by the penetrating beauty of the woods no matter how tempting they get. This firm denial brings him back to reality and he recollects everything.

This poem alludes to another one of Frost’s poems, ‘The Road Not Taken’ where Frost places the persona in a similar situation where the persona is forced to make a choice between two paths. One of the paths is lush, green and very welcoming but he takes the one ‘less travelled by’. His mental struggles can be seen in both of these poems. This poem also bears a similar moral message as that of ‘The Lotos-Eaters’ by Tennyson, in which the soldiers decide between their chance at bliss and their responsibilities and aims in life.