1. Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”: An Analysis

2. Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
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 sound's 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.
Link to poem

3. The plain sense of the poem

4. Stanza 1- To Whom these woods belong
Stanza 1- To Whom these woods belong? I think they belong to a man in the village, But he won’t see me stop here to watch The snow fall on the trees of his woods.

5. Stanza 2- My horse that I ride must be thinking It is strange to stop at this time of the night. I stopped in-between the woods and the frozen lake, On the night with no moon.

6. Stanza 3- The horse shakes the bells, As if he were to ask if I had made a mistake. There is no other sound in the woods Except the whistle of the wind.

7. Stanza 4- The woods are beautiful and dark, But I have many commitments to keep, And I have to travel a long time, A long way before I have time to rest.

8. The literal meaning and life

9. Images
Your life?
Horse bells
Snow
Woods
Gone miles before you could sleep
Which of these images remind you of something in your own life?
Relationship to Life

10. The figurative and symbolic meaning
Literal
Figurative
Woods
Nature or wildness or irrationality or darkness.
Sleep
Death
Village
Civilization or responsibility
Horse
-criticizes speaker for
stopping
Domesticated part of society; civilization.
-highlights society’s
disapproval
Rest too long while snow falls
To lose one’s way or to die

11. Multiple Interpretations of this Poem
A description of a man appreciating nature.
The poem is about death.
This poem addresses suicide.
Nature-lovers see it as a piece that trumpets nature and that scorns civilization (take that, civilization!).
You probably have your own idea of what this poem means. How does it sound to you?

12. Images
Your life?
Stopping to appreciate nature
Death
Suicide
Nature vs. Civilization
Which of these images remind you of something in your own life?
Relationship to Life

13. Should I Care?
Have you ever wanted to escape from the world for a little while? Perhaps to go watch some woods fill up with snow? Leave Facebook to accumulate friend requests and wall posts for you, let the s pile up, record a mischievous away message on your cell phone, stuff the homework, the papers, and the tests under the bed? Well, then this is a poem for you. Sometimes we crave a little vacation from responsibility. Sometimes we get hungry for alone time like the speaker does in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." In a world in which we are constantly stimulated by the Internet, TV, phones, and ads, and in a world in which we are busy little bees, do we get to spend much time alone anymore? Do we have time to stop and smell the roses?

14. The form of the poem:
The poem is a lyric; it narrates personal feelings and it is musical. The music in the poem is achieved by the meter (the rhythmical pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse)
The rhyme is aaba bbcb ccdc dddd.

15. A simile: a comparison with the use of “as” or “like”
Oh! My love is like a red red rose
A metaphor: a comparison without the use of “as” or “like”
Oh! My love is a red red rose
A symbol: an implicit reference that allows for different interpretations
Oh! My red rose