واخيرا وليس آخرا
STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
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.
Theme:
The poem's theme revolves around the tension between the narrator's feeling of obligation and his desire to become lost in the " lovely , dark and deep wood ". His horse becomes a cipher for his conscience . The only positive sound in the poem is the horse's impatient shaking of his bell " To ask if there is some mistake ".
The final two lines express the man's weariness , while the de************************ion of the snow as " downy " invokes the image of softness . The temptation he faces is to enter the woods and find his rest theme, as the horse scems to sence , to do so wouldn't only mean the breaking of promises , but also the endangering of life .
The omnious nature of the lonely scene is established in the second stanza , yet the man is drawn to his fate as if bewitched.
Setting:
Winter evening in a rural environment.
First stanza
In the first stanza, the setting is clarified as a winter evening where the speaker desire to watch snow falling quietly in some woods . While these woods belong to someone , that person is not present and so will not protest if the speaker " tres passes " .
Second Stanza,
The speaker emphasizes that he has no practical ( logical ) reason to stop , that he is stopping for the beauty of the scene only . However in line 8 , an element of darkness appears , which " frozen lake " , readers begin to understand that the poem may not be a simple light- hearted celebration of nature .
Third stanza ,
Although this stanza begins with an " auditory " image , the shaking of the horse's bells , the greater emphasis of the stanza is an silence . Although the speaker can hear the " easy wind " , such a sound is gentle , nearly as silent as falling of snow . The alliteration in line 11 " sounds the sweep " mimics the sound
.of this wind
Fourth stanza,
Here the speaker emphasizes his attraction to the unknown and perhaps the dengerous . He is tempted to go farther into the woods which are " lovely " , but also " dark and deep " . However , he can not lose himself in these woods , because he has obligations , to fulfill . Here , his life in a social communtiy conflicts somewhat with his desires for communication with nature .
The repetition of the line 15 - 16 as a conclusion , indicates that the idea contained in the them is very significant. He has much life to live before he can " sleep " permanently in a dark , deep woods .
These lines suggest that although death may at time be more attractive than life , he is neverthless determined to choose life .
The Tone of the Line :
However may indicate that the speaker is resigred the life to the life but necessarily enthusiastic about it .
Images
:
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" miles to go " -> ****************phore refering to man's journey in life .
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snow ( universal whiteness ) -> symbol of cosmic negation.
symbol of paralysis - stagnation .
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woods -> symbol of enchantments .
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The desire to enter woods -> a ****************phore for a subconscious need to return to humanity's origin -> earth .
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horse thinks -> personification of the horse . The horse represent the obligations of life .