resmor.blogg.se

The state of peacefulness gets at first interrupted, then completely prevented in the end.

The peaceful state is palpable throughout the poem through the setting and the rhythm. They are lost in their contemplation, thus making them not paying attention to their horse.

The speaker ends up being alone in a really quiet place where “The only other sounds the sweep / Of easy wind and downy flakes” (11-12), thus not only asserting that the wood are calm and peaceful, but also meaning that the speaker does not say a word. In addition, the lack of “farmhouse near” (6) emphasizes the isolation in which the speaker is. Moreover, the speaker is isolated because they did not go in the village “He will not see me stopping here” (3) thus emphasizing the feeling of peace.

Thus giving a slow rhythm to the poem because winter is a season where nature slows down and hibernate. Therefore, the setting is important: it happens at night during “The darkest evening of the year” (8) which implicates it is also in winter. They not only say that the woods are beautiful to look at, but by saying “deep” (13), they also imply that they would gladly stay here and observe, discover or even explore the forest. Furthermore, the speaker makes comments on the forest such as “The woods are lovely, dark and deep” (13). Moreover, the frequent use of long lasting sounds as in “Whose” (1), “woods” (1), “house” (2), “snow” (4), “sweep” (11) and “easy” (12) makes the reading, and therefore the speed of the poem, slower, thus emphasizing a feeling of calmness and peace. The four quatrains and the regular iambic tetrameter implies a form of harmony which can be interpreted as peace. The speaker is in a peaceful state, by getting isolated in order to admire the woods. Through the setting and the personification of the horse, the speaker in Frost’s poem finds himself in a peaceful state which then gets interrupted, thus emphasizing how difficult it can be to get away from duties and personal matters. To take a step back and admire the woods, to isolate by not going in the village: these are the speaker’s actions in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, but their sense of duty will end the peaceful state in which they are.