NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
The Use of Imagery, Word Choice and Tone in Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Robert Frosts poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is rightfully considered as one of his best poetical pieces. This is because its semantic properties imply philosophical simplicity and complexity at the same time, while resulting in making this poem particularly memorable. In this paper, we will analyze poems structural components, within a context of authors ability to provide readers with prospects of obtaining pleasure from deciphering poems actual message. It does not take an acclaimed literary critic to define poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening as being narrative in its essence. Author tells us about him stopping at the edge of forest, during the course of winter dusk's, to watch woods fill up with snow. In other words, while riding a horse, the narrator felt an irresistible desire to stop between the woods and frozen lake, as if he had spontaneously realized his deep spiritual affiliation with surrounding scenery.
The result of such realization strikes authors horse as something utterly odd: My little horse must think it queer, To stop without a farmhouse near and it will not be an exaggeration to suggest that narrator himself is not being quite sure as to what caused him to halt in the first place. Given the fact that Frost wrote his poem in the state of poetical frenzy, we can say that, in all probability, narrator experienced the same set of emotions, as Frost, by the time he slowed down the pace of his horse to contemplate on the subject of dark woods being covered with the layer of white snow. These emotions can be characterized by their irrational essence, which nevertheless, does not make them less real. Such essential components of Frosts poem as its imagery, word choice and tone, are meant to emphasize the particularities of narrators emotional state, when he was in the process of writing a poetical piece, because only this can lead readers towards realization of what author actually had on his mind, while rhyming the words that came out of the very depths of his psyche. The tone of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening can be best defined as introversive. Speaker strives to describe surrounding reality as such that has a strong link to his existential mode.
By doing it, he implies that some unrecognizable force draws him towards metaphysical obscurity, which he associates with dark winter woods. The narrator is clearly fascinated with such obscurity: The woods are lovely, dark and deep, without being able to rationalize what caused him to stop in the middle of nowhere, when even his horse begins to realize the unnaturalness of narrators deed: He gives his harness bells a shake. Apparently, author associates woods with his childhood and with his destiny as individual. Thus, poems tone can be discussed as such that is closely related to Frosts biography. It is not a secret that he was always strongly attracted to the rural life, as the most natural form of existence, while being forced to spend most of his life living in the city.
Therefore, we can say that the reason why speaker felt an urge to stop and to observe winter woods is because, at that time, he was having a subconscious epiphany, in regards to his purpose in life. Poems introversive tone allows readers to get an insight on the essence of authors perceptual sensations that are related to the event described in the poem. In Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Frost uses words that have a potential of creating a strong metaphorical effect, if properly combined. For example, despite the fact that the following passage: 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 only contains four lines, the reading of it allows us to find ourselves in the middle of snowy New England's countryside, as invisible witnesses to author trying to come to terms with his destiny. The sound of sweep of easy wind and downy flake implies almost absolute silence, yet, we do not associate this silence with the absence of movement, as form of entropy, but with potential energy, which can realize itself socially, if narrator is being attentive enough to the subconscious voices of his psyche. Apparently, despite the fact that speaker lives in the city, he is becoming aware that he is quite capable of holding conversation with nature, which fascinates and frightens him at the same time: The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep. It is obvious that narrator would like to stay for longer; yet, he feels that if he keeps looking at the forest, it might unable him to proceed with his journey, which is why he uses his social responsibilities, in regards to the person who lives in the village, as an excuse to get moving. As Friedrich Nietzsche once said: If we look at the abyss for too long, the abyss begins to look back at us.
The poems imagery relates to idealistic properties of Frosts character, as person who wrote it. It is quite obvious that the images of dark woods, frozen lake and cloudy winter evening can hardly be referred to as spectacular. While reading Frosts poem, our imagination depicts the scenery of black and white plains and the forest, under the grey sky: Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. However, it appears that author is being clearly inspired by what he sees, which corresponds to his supreme sense of esthetic finesse.
Apparently, he belongs to the type of people whose artistic taste gets to be easily insulted by existential inferiority, associated with bright colors and intellectual shallowness. This is why, just as Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs, Frost used to refer to Las Vegas as the place where he would never go, no matter what. The fact that poems imagery is closely related to particularities of narrators upbringing, adds up to its value, in his own eyes and in the eyes of the readers. Many literary critics suggest that the following sentence from poem: Whose woods these are I think I know implies that author is aware of whom they belong to, in legal context of this word. This might very well be the case; however, it appears that Frost consider dark woods as such that belong to him spiritually.
In its turn, it explains authors willingness to contemplate about them as something that has mystical connection with him as individual. It cannot escape readers attention that the images of woods, frozen lake, easy wind are downy flake are interrelated, which is the reason why it does not take much of an effort, on the part of readers, to imagine what narrator was experiencing when he was in the state of being divided between his social responsibilities and his desire to walk into the woods. In fact, author entitles the mentioned above images with existential objectivity, which increases the dramatic value of the poem, as whole. While standing on the halfway between his home and his friends house in the village, Frost suddenly realizes himself forever attached to the imagery of New England's winter, as such that corresponds to his subconscious anxieties. It is not by pure accident that he wrote Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening in the middle of summer apparently, winter never ceased to affect Frost from within. He was afraid of winters mental grip on his rationale, which is why Frost used to spend his winters in Florida, as if he feared of admitting, even to himself, that he was being affected by existential obscurity, which he liked and loathed at the same time.
Thus, we can conclude that such elements of Frosts poem as imagery, word choice and tone emphasize on the essence of poems hidden message, in their own ways. They also serve as keys to understanding the actual message, because they help us to recognize the whole spectrum of emotions that were affecting Frost, when he was in the process of creating his poetical masterpiece.
Free research essays on topics related to: stopping by woods, lovely dark and deep, frozen lake, frosts poem, woods on a snowy evening
Research essay sample on Stopping By Woods Woods On A Snowy Evening
