Robert Frosts Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening

Analyzing Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

What is poetry? Poetry is a lyrical way of expressing emotion. It is language charged with meaning and framed to be heard for contemplation. Poetry is a pleasant sounding work; the emotions that drive the words fill poetry with deep meaning. The reader must analyze every word to get the full meaning of a poem. An excellent example of deeper meaning within a poem is Robert Frost’s Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening. This poem is layered with different meanings; it requires the reader to contemplate Frost’s emotions behind the words.

Poems, much like pictures, are framed. A picture frame gives a definite border and look to a picture. One way in which a poem can be framed is the look of the poem; how many stanzas are in the poem, how many lines in the stanza, and how many feet are in a line are all examples of framing. Echo and rhyme are two other options an author can choose from when framing his or her work.

Unlike fiction and other types of stories, poetry always needs to be heard or read aloud. Hearing poetry is one of the key ingredients in grasping what the poet is trying to convey. In Robert Frost’s Stopping by the W

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Understanding that the man in the poem is contemplating suicide opens the poem up to be much more than four trivial stanzas. Every two syllables are called a foot; Frost breaks every line into four feet. At this point in the man’s life, getting lost and dying in the woods seems easier than facing all of his troubles. In the first stanza, we see a man stopping in the forest to watch it fill up with snow. This makes each word of a poem extremely significant.

In the next stanza, his horse is pulling at the reins trying to get him to leave the cold woods. “The woods are lovely, dark and deep ( 474. “But I have promises to keep,/ And miles to go before I sleep,/ And miles to go before I sleep (474. For instance, the whole poem has a consistent meter. Rhyme is another key element to poetry. It becomes a picture of how someone who might be contemplating suicide thinks and feels. The interesting twist to this poem’s rhyme scheme is that the third line in each stanza rhymes with the first, second, and fourth lines of the next stanza throughout the poem; in the last stanza, all four lines rhyme.

When using these three key elements of poetry, it is much easier to analyze and gain the full meaning of a poem. ” These final lines remind the man that he has commitments to loved ones to support them; he can not abandon these people that he loves so much.

Approximate Word count = 838
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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