Stopping by woods on a snowy evening modified

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

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Robert Frost


Robert Frost (1874-1963) was born in San Francisco, California. His father William Frost, a journalist and an ardent

Democrat, died when Frost was about eleven years old. His Scottish mother, the former Isabelle Moody, resumed her career as a

schoolteacher to support her family. The family lived in Lawrence, Massachusetts, with Frost's paternal grandfather, William Prescott

Frost, who gave his grandson a good schooling. In 1892 Frost graduated from a high school and attended Dartmouth College for a few months. Over the next ten years he held a number of jobs. Frost worked among others in a textile mill and taught Latin at his mother's

school in Methuen, Massachusetts. In 1894 the New York Independent published Frost's poem 'My Butterfly' and he had five

poems privately printed. Frost worked as a teacher and continued to write and publish his poems in magazines. In 1895 he married a

former schoolmate, Elinor White; they had six children.



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 queerto stop without a farmhouse near

between the woods and frozen lakethe darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shaketo ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweepof 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 (by Robert Frost)

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1. Who is the speaker? What kind of person is

he?•The speaker can be Robert Frost or the persona

“I” ,who is a lonely man.

2. To whom is he speaking?

•He is speaking to his audience.

3. What is the occasion?

-

4-5. What is the setting in time and place?

•One snowy evening in winter in the deep dark

woods.


6. What is the central purpose of the

poem?• The speaker wants to reflect his feeling

and experience he encountered during his

journey in the woods, that is, he has

realized peace, beauty in nature and

death.

7. What is the central idea or theme of the poem? Possible themes: • In nature you can find beauty and peace at heart. • You cannot choose what you really want to do if you have “promises to keep”, which are your duty and responsibility to fulfill.



8. Discuss the tone of the poem. How is it achieved?•The poem has a sad, melancholy or calm tone. The tone is achieved though the use of continuants in the poem which

gives the slow paces and sad mood. 10. Paraphrase the poem•One snowy evening, the speaker rides on a horse into the

deep woods where there is no passers-by. He stops in the woods with a pensive mood and he knows the woods belongs to a man whose house is in the village. He feels peaceful and appreciates the beauty of the woods in winter. His horse must think it’s strange to stop in that dark place between the woods and frozen lake in the evening time. The speaker hears the

sound of the horse shaking his bell as a sign to ask his owner whether there is something wrong. The other sounds the

speaker hears are those of wind and downy flakes. Although the woods are pretty and pleasant to him, he has to keep going because of his responsibility to fulfill his promises.


11. Discuss the diction of the poem. Point out words that are particularly well and explain why.•In his poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,”

Robert Frost uses continuants in his word choice to produce a calm, serene tones which makes the poem flow smoothly from line to line. He uses phrases like “of easy

wind and downy flake” or “the woods are lovely, dark, and deep” to create a peaceful, soothing tone. In addition, he employs long but simple sentences to portray a simple

and serene stop in the woods. At the end of the poem he uses repetition in the phrase “And miles to go before I

sleep, and miles to go before I sleep” to suggest the idea of a long journey ahead of him. The structure of the sentences and the choice of words work together

brilliantly to convey the calm and quiet tone of the poem.


12. Discuss the imagery of the poem. What kinds of imagery are used?•We can see the visual images of a pleasant wintry scene and “lovely, dark, and deep” woods filled up with snow throughout the poem. • We can also hear the shaking of the harness bells in the silence as an image of sound. Although we can hear the “easy wind”, such a sound is gentle,

nearly as silent as the falling of the snow. The slight alliteration in line 11, “sound’s the sweep,” mimics the sound of this wind.


13. point out the figure of speech such as metaphor, simile, personification, and explain their appropriateness.

Personification: In “My little horse must think it queer” , “To ask if there is some mistake”, the horse is personified to act as a human-being who can exchange his thought with another person, and in “He gives his harness bell a shake”, also suggests the personification of a horse as a human-being.Symbol: The description of the woods in the last stanza as ‘lovely, dark and deep’ symbolizing the happy life after death.


14. Point out and explain examples of paradox, overstatement, irony, allegory, understatement or allusion. What is their function?•Examples of allusion such as in line 8, “the darkest evening of the year” alludes to death referring to the dark evening of the Judgment Day. 15. Point out the significant examples of sound repetition and explain their function.•Repetition is found in the poem in the final two lines, “And miles to go before I sleep,” which gives emphasis on the idea of how this person feels about the responsibilities that lie ahead.


18. Describe the form or pattern of the form.•The poem consist of four stanzas, each with for lines which is called a quatrain. Each line in the poem has eight syllables (or four feet). The poem is in iambic tetrameter. The rhyme scheme of this poem is regular with the pattern of a a b a except the last one with a a a a • AlliterationStanza 1= “H” sound - whose, his, house, he, here, his “W” sound- woods, will, watch woods “S” sound – see, stopping, snowStanza 2= “M” sound – my, must “L” sound – little, lake “H” sound – horse, farmhouse “F” sound -farmhouse, frozenStanza 3= “H” sound – he, his, harness “S” sound- ask, some, mistake, sound’s, sweepStanza 4 =“D” sound- dark, deep


19. Criticize and evaluate the poem.•The poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” is a meaningful poem. It conveys an important idea of keeping up one’s duties and responsibilities when alive. In stanza 3 the poet personifies the horse as a human-being which can communicate with its owner. The first line of the last stanza, the ‘lovely, dark and deep woods’ is a symbol of the happy life after death. Moreover, the continuant sounds of the words used contribute to the pensive, unhurried mood of the poem which makes us feel the tranquility of the place.


Reference:http://www.answers.com/topic/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening-poem-3http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/A_f/frost/woods.htmhttp://www.bookstove.com/Poetry/Stopping-by-Woods-on-a-Snowy-Evening-An-Analysis.102251


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