Response Paper Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

Jaci M. Response: “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”

“Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost on the surface seemed to

be just another poem about nature. As I started to read this poem, I didn’t think that the poem had underlying meaning; however I found myself pondering hidden meanings within the text. The poem is full of imagery of nature, and it is very easy to follow. The title of the poem is simplistic, yet is a great choice because anything more would not allow the reader to see their own meaning of the poem. While I was reading the poem, one thing that kept coming to my mind was what Frost said about his poetry: “I am not a nature poet.” I remember thinking, if Frost is not a nature poet, then how can he write an entire poem about nature. I came to the conclusion that the importance of the poem wasn’t in the woods, but rather the person that stopped. I think that Frost wrote this poem, and several others, in a way that forced the reader to gather their own personal meaning. Although the nature is very much so prevalent, the nature plays more into the imagery that Frost creates. Many of Frost’s poems seem to be sensory, allowing the reader to experience the emotion first hand. What I found to be the most important aspect of this poem was the poems form. Frost was able to add to the poems feeling, by using Iambic Tetrameter, similar to Iambic pentameter using four feet rather than five. When a poet or author uses any type of Iambic meter, the reader can easily pick up on the rhythm. In this poem, the meter makes the reader feel a sense of urgency, in that the man does not want to get caught looking at these woods. Another great device is the rhyme scheme he employs, which is AABA. This type of rhyming links the lines together to create a sense of cohesion. Probably the most important, and “famous” lines of the poem are the last two: “and miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.” Frost

Jaci M. Response: “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” disrupts this AABA pattern, but in a way that is not unpleasing and a way that adds to the deeper meaning Frost’s poem, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”, is one of my favorite poems. I love that it is a sort of double entendre. At first glance a person can see a man in the woods, and while I believe that Frost intended for people to gather their own meaning, I took this to be symbolic of one’s life. You can stop and admire all the things you have done, or perhaps you can focus on what other people’s lives are, but there is so much for us to do that we must not stop.