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There is an inate beauty in nature and therefore mankind.
When Frost stops he sees the true potential of mankind through the perfection in nature.

But society, which he must be a part of, robs man of this natural beauty. Despite his knowledge of how society rapes man's soul, he has no choice but to return. He knows he will not be released from this burden until he dies.

This poem has a rhyming scheme of AACA CCDC EEFE GGGG, “deep…keep…” I feel that this poem is mainly about the real world, which Frost lives in and his fantasy, probably heaven. It is also about death and Frost compares it to the “lovely, dark and deep” woods.
In the first line, Frost appears to be a little uncertain about his surroundings, thus, in a confused state of mind, “whose woods these are I think I know”. Yet, he seems to be certain that the woods belong to him, but doesn’t tell us who “he” is. I guess that “he” could represent Jesus. Furthermore, by saying that “his woods fill up with snow”, it could mean that Frost was old and his time was coming. Thus, snow signifies purity and peace after someone dies.
However, he makes it clear that he does not want to die yet, “He will not see me stopping here”.
In the next stanza though, I understand that Frost longs to stay in the woods but his horse has a different view about this place. This is certainly because it is still young and its time on Earth is not up yet, unlike Frost who is already an elderly man. The horse was probably like a reminder for Frost and could have symbolized the younger generation, his grandchildren. Thus, he still had to return to the real world for the sake of them. The third stanza also describes the woods as a peaceful and tranquil area, “The only other sound’s the sweep of easy wind and downy flake”.
Finally, Frost ends the poem by stating his desire to stay in the woods. However, he feels obliged to return due to his promises, which he had to fulfill before he dies. Frost also gave us a new perspective regarding life. He saw it as a duty, something he had to do, before he could rest. Thus, he emphasizes this twice, “And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep”.

Reading a Poem

Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”


Abdullah Bageri Hamidi
Bageri_hamidi@hotmail.com

A poem is a verbal attempt to make the particular facts seem ambiguous. In “Seven Types of Ambiguity”(1947), William Empson assigned ambiguity a central position in a definition of the poetic texts. The ambiguity in poetry generates multiple meanings. Based on the method of analysis, each reader unfolds a new aspect of the poetic theme. The poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” has so far stimulated many readings. This article intends to review few interpretations of the poem by some leading scholars in the field to draw some new conclusions out of the important points they have made in their invaluable attempts.
* * * * *
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know a
His house is in the village though a
He will not see me stopping here b
To watch his woods fill up with snow a

My little horse must think it queer b
To stop without a farm-house near b
Between the woods and the frozen lake c
The darkest evening of the year b

He gives his harness bells a shake c
To ask if there is some mistake c
The only other sound is the sweep d
Of easy wind and downy flake c

The woods are lovely, dark and deep d
But I have promises to keep d
And miles to go before I sleep d
And miles to go before I sleep d

In his book Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature (1975), Henry Widdowson describes the poem as a unique act of communication and a way language is patterned to create a unique message. “Patterns” are the product of repeated occurrences of linguistic forms, each pattern realizing a theme. The pattern Widdowson discerns in the first stanza of the poem is manifested by the “preponderance of pronominal forms”. He sees particular significance in the fact that the possessive adjective “his” occurs twice and “whose” once, leading him “to surmise that the theme of the poem as a whole has something to do with possession as well as something to do with the woods” (Widdowson, 1975, p.118). The possessive adjectives in the second and third stanzas (“my little horse”, “his harness bells”) also signal the theme of possession. Here Widdowson detects the introduction of another and contrasting theme. “Easy” in the phrase “easy wind” and “downy” in “downy flake” refer to intrinsic properties. “We might say that, in the second and third stanzas, the woods, the wind and the falling snow are seen as symbolizing a natural freedom from constraint, a world apart from that which is circumscribed by a human system of rights and obligations” (Widdowson, 1975, pp. 119-20). Both themes appear in the last stanza:

Just as the wind is naturally easy, so the woods are naturally lovely, dark and deep. These qualities are contrasted with human values as the theme of possession is restated. Whereas, however, possession in the first verse is associated with the rights, in the last verse it is associated with obligation. The use of the verb “have” is interesting here … One might say that what is suggested here is that the first person in the poem has woods, but the possession of the promises does not bestow rights, it imposes obligations (Widdowson, 1975, p. 120)

The “meaning” of the final stanza is:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep (and represent such a reality of elemental freedom) but (my reality must be that of social constraints and this is represented by the fact that) I have promises to keep. Only in sleep is there freedom from responsibility. (Widdowson, 1972, p. 120)

Sydney Bolt (1972) responded to Widdowson’s reading in a way that any reader of literature might have done: if this is stylistic analysis of Frost’s poem, who needs stylistic analysis? S. Bolt believed that Widdowson had missed the most important point about the poem, what, in fact, makes it a poem. According to Bolt, a poem expresses its meaning through a metaphoric way. Bolt says:

When the reader thinks twice about what the last line means, he realizes there must be a latent meaning beneath the manifest one. This reveals itself as a metaphor - “a long way to go before I die”. On re-reading, one now registers the attractive woods as the forest of death, and additional meaning attaches to every line. The poem as a whole rejects death without denying its appeal. Death’s house is, of course, the graveyard. (Bolt, 1972, p. 245)

Sidney bolt is not the only critic who reads the poem as an expression of “death wish”. Many literary critics such as Rene Wellek and Robert Pen Warren (1949, pp. 194-5), and L. Thompson (1961, pp. 25-7) rendered the same reading in their interpretations of the poem. J.F. Lynen (1960) had given a full account of his own reading of the poem:
The poem is not just a record of something that once happened to the poet, it points outward from the moment described toward far broader areas of experience. It expresses the conflict which everyone has felt between the demands of practical life, with its obligations to others and the poignant desire to escape into a land of revere, where conscious is dimmed and the senses made independent of necessity. There is no overt symbolism in “Stopping by Woods”, and yet the reader finds his vision directed in such a way that he sees the poet’s purely personal experience as an image of experience common to all. The wide meaning of the poem becomes obvious in the final lines. These state the conflict in a simple, realistic way: the poet will have to fulfill certain duties, perhaps just chores about the farm before he can go to bed, but the “promises”, the “sleep”, and the “miles to go” widen to include more important aspects of his life and further elements of everyman’s life. “Sleep” here is, of course, the well-earned reward at the end of a day’s work; but reaching out beyond this, as indeed the whole poem transcends its rural setting, the idea of sleep merges with the final sleep, death itself. It stands in contrast to the snowy woods, whose temptation is to irresponsible indulgence ending in loss of consciousness: it is normal death, the release at the end of a life in which man has kept his promises and traveled the whole journey through human experience. (Lynen, 1960, pp. 2-3)


Another reading is found in Perrine’s “Literature, Structure, Sound &Sense (Vol. 2: Poetry)”, a book too familiar for the students of English literature in Iran. Like the other traditional literary critics, Perrine finds a source of meaning and then tries to make the other words and images fit his reading. Laurence Perrine uses an intuitive way to read the poem. Perrine says:
Perhaps the best way to get at the idea of “Stopping by Woods” is to ask two questions: First, why does the speaker stop? Second, why does he go on? He stops, we answer, to watch the woods fill up with snow - to observe a scene of natural beauty. He goes on, we answer, because he has “promises” to keep, that is, he has obligations to fulfill. He is momentarily torn between his love of beauty and these other various and complex claims that life has upon him. The small conflict in the poem is symbolic of a larger conflict in life. One part of the sensitive thinking man would like to give up his life to the enjoyment of the beauty and art. But another part is aware of the larger duties and responsibilities - responsibilities owed, at least in part, to other human beings. The speaker in the poem would like to satisfy both impulses. But when the two come into conflict, he seems to suggest, the “promises” must be given precedence. (Perrine, 1973, p. 692)
* * * * *
The readings above are all very valuable sources to get at the meaning of the poem. However, these diverse meanings are the outcome of the language of the poetical text, the arrangement of the words in the structures that are, as William Empson has termed, ambiguous. Any reading, whether it is done by a linguist or by the literary critics, observes the Gestalt perception that the overall underlying meaning is produced through the interaction of all the subordinate and distinguishable parts which contribute to make up the aesthetic message. Images are, I assume, the most important ingredients in the framework of a poem. Therefore, the overall meaning of a poem should have something to do with the images a poem makes.
The poem “Stopping by Woods” is composed of four stanzas. The first and the fourth stanzas are concerned with the speaker who is contemplating on the situation at hand. The second and third stanzas are about the horse and what he thinks. Therefore, the man and his horse, as the two major images in the poem, have equal significance in making up the overall meaning of the poem. The man and his horse are both situated in the same position. The man thinks of the house of the owner of the woods; the horse wonders at the lack of a farmhouse nearby. Both are aware of the woods that are being filled with the snow. There is only one point that separates the man from his horse. The man is fascinated at the sight of a natural beauty, whereas the horse is driven forward only by his instinct to survive “between the woods and the frozen lake in the darkest evening of the year”. It is highly significant that the horse is personified. The fact corresponds to the idea that it represents one major aspect of the sensitive man’s character. The rhyming pattern (aaba bbcb ccdc dddd) reinforces the coherence in the use of the two images - the man and his horse; it also implies that the aesthetic message of the poem is fulfilled in the final stanza.
The opening lines of the poem are expressed in an ironic way. The speaker thinks that he knows the owner of the woods. However, the adverbial clause of contrast introduces a new attitude of the speaker toward the ironic situation. A simple paraphrase of the lines as “although the owner’s house is in the woods, he will not see me stopping here to watch his woods fill up with snow” shows that the speaker is thinking in such terms that are unusual in the ordinary life. Trespassing is not often allowed, but nobody expects that even watching the woods is forbidden and that it should be licensed. The same style is used in the first line of the last stanza: The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. The woods are often appreciated for their light and openness, not for such characteristics as “dark” and “deep”. The unusual use of the objects and concepts justifies a metaphoric handling of the experience.
Moreover, the persistence of some words call for a metaphoric reading of the poem. The literal meanings of words such as “snow, the frozen lake, the darkest evening of the year, bells, flake, dark, deep, and sleep” are usually ignored and they are often metaphorically considered in the poems. These words and phrases are all associated with a coldness that drives every living thing to stillness and death.
Any meaning should be inferred from the important fact that the man and his horse are facing some elements of nature. Nature is governed by the physical principle of balance and stability. Nature favors lack of motion, and the strong forces of it cause everything to turn into the elements of nature. Then, the act of stopping by a natural scene metaphorically implies the natural inclination toward a stillness, which is commonly referred to as “Death”.
The man and his horse respond to the appeal of the nature in different ways. The man is fascinated by the beauty of the scene, yet he remembers the promises he has to keep, and he determines to go on. The horse, on the other hand, is more inclined to go on, because he is instinctually aware that they are threatened to die if they keep stopping. The sound of his harness bell is a sign for the man that the “bells of a church might be soon tolled for them”. Indeed, there are two forces that keep the man and his horse move on. The first one, namely the instinct, is represented by the horse. The two agents share the instinctual force. The second one is unique to man. The man also enjoys having the human will. The will to keep his promises causes the committed man to continue living.
Consequently, the theme of the poem can be stated as “man continues living on , because he has an instinctual impulse as well as a human will to ignore the appeal of the physical balance and stillness that is always welcoming, especially when man is surrounded by the threatening forces of nature”. Tabriz, January 2004
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bolt, S. (1972), “Stylistic Analysis”, The Use of English, vol. 24
Empson, W. (1947), Seven Types of Ambiguity, London, Chatto & Windus
Lynen, J.F.(1960),The Pastoral Art of Robert Frost,New Haven,Yale University Press
Perrine, L. (1973), Literature, Structure, Sound and Sense, vol.2
Widdowson, H.G. (1975), Stylistics & The Teaching of Literature, London, Longman

I have never thought of sucide. this peom is just saying the man is letting the world go around him and he just wants it to stop for he can enjoy the little things in life

The woods are Gods and hold the memories of our lifetime.

That God's house is the village church.

"He will not see me stopping here" shows a double meaning of not being observed and not approving of delay.

"To watch his woods fill up with snow." are memories accumulating.

The "little horse" is time dragging us into the future. That it is the winter solstice with obligations to faith, family, friends and Christmas just three days away.

We contemplate our memories again and remember our promises and a life waiting to be lived.

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this poem. I needed to pick a poem to do a poetry analysis...however found that it didn't have many poetry devices... so far i've found one use of alliteration "Dark and Deep," i've found repetion at the end of the poem and theres also use of imagery (sensual and visual). actually there are quite a few of poetry devices...i may just pick this poem to do as an analysis! ha ha ha! ok... so what exactly is this guys story?? is there a story behind it...can't pick it out...CAN ANYONE TAKE IT FROM HErE..

This poem... I really don't know quite what it is about it, but it just fills me with emotion. The last paragraph and the repetition "but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep... and miles to go before I sleep..." is beautiful. It captures the regret in having to part with this wonder so well... but so simply

I think it's a poem about escape through the senses. It is the human condition to search for meaning for why we are "in" the world rather than the horse who is "of it". And I think the real conflict is that we can often feel we are on the outside looking in rather than truely being a part of nature. The fantasy or escape would be to become one with it and lose ourselves and earthly responsibilites in its purity, perfection and spiritual peace. I don't see a death metaphor but rather a desire of the protagonist to experience the exhileration of a re-birth. The reality is, though that this can't be. But neither could our fantasy be enjoyed without our reality to compare it to which ironically the horse seems to know. I love the poem. For me it confirms the importance and value of life and how lucky we are to be able to experience and appreciate its beauty when we take the time to do so.

A lot of people have been saying that Robert Frost was not the "dark type." This is untrue, many of his later works reflected more cynicism than you would think. He did have reasons for thinking about suicide. Among them: several of his children died before he ever did, one by suicide.

Some of you have gotten extremely detailed in analysis of this poem, which I think is wonderful. Isn't it interesting that such a short poem can hold so much? Frost's good at that.
I guess I'm carved of an optimistic substance b/c this poem just doesn't strike me as necessarily dark, but rather an intriguing little rumination on death.
I think this piece lends itself more to the category of one of those rare moments of epiphany and introspection where you stop your life for a moment and really look at the surroundings and think of something that you may not readily contemplate at any other given moment.
In any case, it's a brilliant description of an older person thinking that it would be nice to go to that eternal sleep and be rid of the trials and tribulations of life, but at the same time realizing that he or she isn't ready to go quite yet.