Robert frost- stopping by woods on a snowy evening Essay

Representations Of Tranquility And Mystery In The Midst of Winter Woods

Nature exists as an entity of great importance throughout various types of literature and arts. It often illustrates powerful metaphors for a large number of abstract terms and is infinitely used to set the mood and tone of fictional pieces. Robert Frost, one of the most widely known poets, also uses nature throughout his poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ to convey a whole world of ideas and thoughts through his writing. Frost begins by recounting a scene of a man, escorted by his horse, stopping by familiar scenery of winter woods on the coldest day in the year. The speaker suggests that this man is on a lengthy expedition of some sort, and is unable to remain at that stop for long. By utilizing an assortment of imagery, symbolism, and figurative phrases, Frost conceives a sense of serenity fused with a feeling of anonymity. Delicate imagery is applied by Frost to summon the world of nature in the poem. Throughout the described scenery, Frost points at the silence that encircles the woods by introducing the act of one’s watching the snow fall in the following lines ‘to watch his woods fill up with snow’ (4). He specifies and allows one to visualize how they ‘fill up with snow’ (4), producing a notion of fullness, while stressing the serene stillness in the woods. The woods illustrates a feeling of seclusion as it exists ‘without a farmhouse near’(6). Furthermore, the imagery present in those lines also proposes a sense of harmony and uninterrupted isolation associated typically with silence. Frost’s mentioning of a ‘frozen lake’ (7) and ‘easy wind’ (12), once again imply a tranquil calmness that blankets the forest. The silence in the scene of stanza 3 stands out as there is emphasis put on the shake of a horse’s ‘harness bells’ while the only other sound being that of the wind