Nature sometimes has the power to captivate people so deeply that they forget about their problems or obligations and simply enjoy the moment. Through his choice of lexical items, anaphora and rhythm, Robert’s Frost poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” reveals a feeling of appreciation of the nature and the present moment, even though the speaker knows that there is the necessity of leaving. Therefore, it draws attention to a conflict between personal wish and social obligation.

As the speaker goes into the woods, something touches him and his attention is driven to the beauty and simplicity of the nature. The adjectives “lovely, dark and deep” (13) on the last stanza outline that there is something about  this place that makes him feel good in a way that he forgets about his duties for a moment. Even if he does not stop there, the way he describes the landscape suggests that it feels like as if time had stopped for a while. The “woods fill up with snow” (4) and “frozen lake” (7) confirms that it is winter time and the cold and silence of the season makes him hold his pace before he continues his journey. The speaker’s feeling of tiredness of his trip goes away for a moment while he appreciates the details of the woods. The “easy wind and downy flake” (12) demonstrate that winter time is not something unpleasant for him, but a season when the nature rests, things happen in a more slow rhythm and so does his journey.

The speaker does not expect to stop in the woods as he has a journey to accomplish. It seems that he must arrive at his destination on time and that there might be someone waiting for him. This is outlined on the fourth stanza when he says that he has “promises to keep” (14), and his necessity to go can provoke a feeling of anxiety, which is contrasted with the feeling of peacefulness that the woods gives to him. His intentions to pass by this place quickly are confirmed when he says that “he will not see me stopping here” (3). That means that the speaker might be in hurry and he does not expect the owner of the woods to be back by the time he leaves the woods. The idea of movement is also reinforced by the rhyme pattern and the four iambic feet suggest the gentle pace of his horse. Even if he attempts to stop, the animal does not allow him to do it, when giving “his harness bells a shake” (9). That is the moment that he comes back to reality. The anaphora “and miles to go before I sleep” (11) suggests that he tries to convince himself that he cannot stop there and he decides to let all those good feelings go and continue his way.

Robert Frost depicts a conflict between heart and mind, with a speaker struggling between the will to stay and necessity to get somewhere. His urge of getting to his destination and being awaited by someone shows that his social obligations are his priorities. He recharges his energy by breathing the fresh air of winter time and appreciating all the good feelings the nature has to offer, so that he has enough strength to finish his long journey.