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Lecturer: Stopping by woods on a snowy evening The poem “ stopping by woods on a snowy evening” by Robert Frost is about a person on a journey. The speaker is travelling on a horseback on the darkest evening of the year when he stops in between the woods and a frozen lake, to watch the woods fill up with snow. The speaker thinks that the owner of the woods lives in the village and will therefore not see him stopping by his property. As the speaker continuously stares at the snowy woods, his little horse shakes the bell of its harness to inquire of any mistakes. He describes the woods as “ lovely, dark, and deep,” but reminds himself that he has to resist their allure since he has promises to keep and a long journey ahead of him.
The speaker in this poem intended to bring out various messages. This poem highlights three main messages; decision-making in life, Isolation in the society and that nature is beautiful and attractive. The speaker in this poem shows that one cannot avoid decision making in life. While he is travelling, he stops between the woods and a frozen lake. The beautiful and alluring woods are the reason he stops, he stares at them for a while before his little horse shakes the bell of its harness to ask for any mistakes. The speaker realizes that he has to make a decision on whether he should remain in the attractive woods or continuing with his journey probably to the village, where he has promises that he needs to fulfill.
The speaker has to choose between two worlds. The woods are attractive and seem to offer the speaker perfect quiet and solitude, which he seems to desire. On the other side, there is a different world from the woods, the world with people and societal obligations. Both sides interest the speaker in different ways but he has to decide which side is the best for him. The world with people however seems more important to the speaker since he decides to leave the woods and continue with his journey.
In the poem “ stopping by woods on a snowy evening”, the speaker has to choose between his self-desires and society desires. It seems that it is unusual for him to stop for a while and enjoy himself, for instance stopping to admire the beauty of the woods. His duties and responsibilities to the society do not allow some time for him. He however stops for a while to stare at the lovely woods. His little horse shakes the bell of its harness to alert him that it is unusual to stop in the woods. He decides to continue with his journey where he has duties and responsibilities to fulfill for the society. This implies that he values his commitments to the society more than his own desires.
This poem is contrasts two different worlds, “ the woods” and “ the village” which represent nature and society respectively. The speaker shows his isolation since he chooses the society where he has responsibilities over the nature that he seems to desire. This poem shows the importance of decision making in life since, each side chosen will affect ones life.
Work Cited
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Diane Pub Co, 2004. Pri