When woods are deeper than you think. The enchanting woods described in Robert Frost’s poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, are dark and cold but still feel like a welcoming place, where, as the title mentiones it, the protagonist is halting. Despite that, a rush can be perceived through the poem. It is suggested by the changes in rhythm. This rush can be understood as a hurry to leave which is in contradiction with the lust to stop and stare at the woods. Through this paradox, and other stylistic choices the idea of obligation is outlined, the desire to stay but the duty to go.

The prosody1 of the poem is the first element that reflects the concept of obligation. The poem is built of four quatrain stanzas with each iambics tetrameters. The first three stanzas are constructed with the same rhyme pattern while the last stanza, with its different structure, is contrasting with the others. The similar construction of the first three stanzas creates a really rhythmic flow that catches the reader and immerses him/her into the narrator’s mind. The sudden change in the rhyme pattern breaks that flow and brings the reader back to reality. Suddenly, there is a rush to leave. There is no more time to be absorbed in the protagonist’s mind and marvel at those woods. The repetition of the last stanza makes the rush clearer. There is no more time to be lost in any thoughts, the protagonist has “miles to go before [he sleeps]”(15/16), certainly obligations. The rhythmic flow serves as a spell on the reader, immersing her/him into the protagonist’s mind and the unexpected change of the rhyme pattern breaks the spell. The narrator is suddenly aware of his obligations, he can not stops and admires those woods. He has to keep going and so has the reader.

The content itself, with the use of some lexicon and repetition, makes the statement made before stronger and clearer. The first thing to notice is the use of a specific lexicon: “woods”,“snow”(4), “frozen lake”(5), “darkest”,“evening”(6), “sweep”(11), “easy wind”,“downy flake”(12), “dark”,“deep”(13). It creates a dark atmosphere, mentioning it is night time but also a very pleasant one, with all that snow around. The mix of darkness and charming atmosphere establishes an enchanting ambiance. Then, it is important to notice that he is alone in those woods: “To stop without a farmhouse near”(6), “The only other sound’s the sweep”(11). The woods are silent and deserted. It creates a strong feeling of loneliness. The luring atmosphere is then stronger because of that loneliness. The protagonist is not exactly alone. He is with his horse, mentioned twice in the poem at the beginning of stanza two and three. The reference to the horse has the same purpose than the break in rhythm. It takes the narrator out of his contemplation of the woods reminding him that he has to keep going and that he can not stops in those marvelous woods. The narrator then remembers that “[he has] promises to keep”(14), obligations, and that he has to keep going.

The rhythm is immersing the reader into the protagonist’s mind but also taking her/him out of it. The content is then creating a luring atmosphere that is broken by the content itself and the allusion to the horse. In conclusion, everything in the poem is made to trap the narrator and so the reader into the contemplation of these enchanting woods but also to take him out of that marvelous atmosphere. The goal is to bring him back to reality and to remind him that he has to keep going and achieve his obligations.

1    The prosody of the poem has been discussed in the ILA class of Boris Vejdovsky.