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“And Miles to go Before I Sleep”
In “Stopping by Woods” Robert Frost uses several different “Elements of Peotry” to portray a very real sense of the speakers journey.  Along his journey the speaker finds himself walking past a wooded area on a cold winter’s night, with only his horse as he stops to admire the beauty of nature. The speaker stops, and while gazing in the snow-laden woods, he reminisces on his life. With a little persuasion from his trusty horse and his responsibilities of home he feels he must continue on his journey of life. Frost utilizes many different techniques to depict the setting and theme of the poem and this helps the reader to visualize what the speaker is experiencing.
The words Frost chooses to use in the poem play an important role in portraying the setting as a cold lonely wood. His choice in using a cold and lonely setting immediately suggests that the woods are a mysterious place, far removed from the everyday lives and concerns symbolized by the village. He chose words that depict a dangerous and cold setting instead of words like “snowy” which give a mental picture of a beautiful, clean, and pure place.  Frost’s choice in words leaves the reader with a sense of danger. The lake is “frozen”, and the speaker comments that this is the “darkest evening of the year”. “The darkest evening of the year” could just be literal, showing that the poem is set just before Christmas, but it may also suggest that the speaker is dwelling on some sad or depressing event.
By using personification Frost is able to make a sometimes otherwise unimportant character a driving force in the poem. By personifying the horse, Frost is able to introduce another point of view to the poem while still giving off a great sense of isolation. To some extent the horse acts as the voice of common sense, thinking it “queer/ To stop without a farmhouse near”. (Frost, lines 5 and 6)  The horse plays a very important role, for without the...