The unknown in Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” portrays a conflict about the unknown. Through the contrast of feeling and wish between the speaker and the horse, between stopping and going when faced with the unknown, between doubt, worries and comfort, between darkness and softness, and also the poetic form, there is an illustration of anxiety and fascination of the unknown.
The unknown is illustrated throughout the poem by doubts, worries, darkness and will show anxiety. Indeed, when the speaker says “Whose woods these are I think I know” (1), the use of “I think” creates a feeling of doubt to the reader about the speaker’s knowledge of these woods. So these woods are somehow unknown to the speaker. The person to whom the “he” and “his” (2-3-4) refer is unknown to the reader. This mystery contributes to immerse the reader into the unknown. Furthermore, the speaker “has promises to keep” (14), but what kind of promises, the reader doesn’t know. This second mystery also emphasizes the reader’s immersion. The fact that the speaker “stop[s] here” (3) “To watch his woods” (4) is unusual for the horse. The speaker says “My little horse must think it queer/To stop without a farmhouse near” (5-6) which suggests that an unknown situation is happening to the horse and that makes him feel anxious. Indeed, the fact that the horse “gives his harness bells a shake/To ask if there is some mistake” (9-10), could be seen as a sign of his anxiety and worries about staying here. This implies that the horse is willing to keep going. Moreover, they stop here to watch these mysterious woods “The darkest evening of the year” (8). This fact reflects to a scary atmosphere. There is a lexical field of darkness “The darkest evening of the year (8), “dark and deep” (13), “queer”(5) in addition with doubts and worries which will emphasize the anxiety.
On the other hand, the unknown will show fascination through contemplation, comfort, softness and the poetic form. Unlike the horse, the speaker seems to be fascinated by the mysterious woods, he says “The woods are lovely” (13).There is a contrast of feeling between the speaker and the horse. The lines “He will not see me stopping here/ To watch his woods fill up with snow” (3-4), implies that the speaker wants to stop in order to watch these woods. This wish strengthens the opposition between stopping and going of the speaker and the horse. Furthermore, there is a lexical field of softness used by the reader with words and adjectives as “lovely” (13) “easy wind and downy flake” (12). This softness can be perceived by the reader as comfort. Indeed, when the speaker says “The only other sound the sweep/Of easy wind and downy flake”, the reader feels this speaker’s comfort. Moreover, “To watch his woods fill up with snow” (4) “Between the woods and frozen lake” shows the beauty of the scenery contemplated by the speaker. It shows that he is fascinated by the woods. Furthermore, the poetic form: iambic tetrameter, with a very regular rhythm, a chain of alternative’s beats (every impairs syllables are unstressed and pairs syllables are stressed) and rhymes (AABA) creates a smoothness and emphasizes the softness of the poem.
Throughout the poem, there is many contrasts which show the duality between fear and fascination of the unknown. Feelings and wishes when faced to the unknown could be completely opposite. Moreover, this duality implies different choices. These choices are crucial in life.