Through the use of the description of the woods and the brevity of his break, the speaker of Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” conveys his fascination for the natural environment and its effects on him. However, the persona reminds himself of his promises after the momentary contemplation of the woods.
The narrator describes the darkness and the coldness of the environment he stops by, in order “To watch [the] woods fill up with snow” (4). In the three first quatrains, the “snow” (4), the “frozen lake” (7) and the “flake” (12) illustrate the presence of the coldness. Thus, this lexical field creates an atmosphere where everything seems frozen, as if time has stopped[1]. In contrast to the village in which social activity takes place, there is no sign of civilization in the woods: “To stop without a farmhouse near” (6). Consequently making woods appear as “lovely” (13) and captivating as in “deep” (13), he cannot be distracted, he is fascinated. Therefore, the woods produce the idea of depth, as if the narrator was lost in a deep contemplation of the woods. Indeed, his sense of hearing is affected by the silence surrounding him, “The only other sound’s the sweep/Of easy wind and downy flake” that emphasizes the fact that he is isolated in a “dark” (13) environment, with his horse. In addition, the event described in the poem occurs during “The darkest evening of the year” (8). The presence of a superlative connects the description of the woods as being “lovely, dark and deep” (13), all associated in one sentence, as if the narrator reaches a paroxysm in his contemplation and fascination of the woods.
On the other hand, the contemplation is momentary[2]. The brevity is characterized by the horse, the persona and is presented in the title of the poem. First, the personification of the horse[3] allows him to speak his mind: “My little horse must think it queer” (5). He represents the link between the woods and the village because the speaker needs the animal to go from a place to another. Therefore, the contrast between the two characters is very much ambiguous[4]. The insertion of the persona in a natural environment appears antithetically to correspond to the speaker and not to the horse: “My little horse must think it queer” (5). The animal should be attracted to nature, but in the poem he works as a reminder of the society[5], that the persona left and should go back to, by “[giving] his harness bells a shake/To ask if there is some mistake” (9-10). Likewise, the speaker reminds himself that he has “promises to keep” (14), introduced by the conjunction “But” (14) that creates a break after reaching the paroxysm of his contemplation. The repetition at the end of the poem “And miles to go before I sleep” (15-16) sounds like a reminder that he has to go and that his contemplation of the woods is not going to last forever. In the same way, the title “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, with the use of the verb “to stop by”, makes the action appear as momentary.
To conclude, the narrator is affected by his contemplation. The brevity of his break contrasts with the different temporality set in the woods due to the fascinating coldness and darkness of the woods. The shortness of this moment makes it more valuable for the persona, but, on the contrary, this ephemerality makes him realise that he is not made for that natural environment.
[1] Tutoring session with Daniel Baumgartel.
[2] 4 Tutoring session with Daniel Baumgartel.
[3] 5 During Enit Steiner’s ILA class.