Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost
This is probably one of the most frequently anthologized of Robert Frost’s poems. It is deceptively simple and very evocative.
(Your answers to the three questions on this poem should be approximately 1 – 1 ½ pages.)
- (a) Discuss those images which most clearly and effectively establish the poem’s setting and atmosphere.
(b) What role does rhyme play in reinforcing the lyrical nature of the poem?
- How would you describe the tone of the poem? Illustrate the way in which Frost uses diction to develop and enhance this tone.
- What is your interpretation of the final lines of the poem? How does the repetition affect or influence your opinion?
BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING
Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
