Stopping by Woods in A
Snowy Evening
By Robert Frost
Stopping by Woods in A Snowy Evening
By Robert Frost
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
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
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
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
The Author
Paraphrasing
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
The Speaker
The speaker is an adult, it can be man or woman in
about 40 years old. Because I think that the speaker is a
wise person. He/she is interested on the woods, but
he/she know that he can’t stay there and need to keep his
promise. So, I think he/she is not young yet. But, in the
end of poetry, the speaker stated that ‘and miles to go
before I sleep’ twice, means that he/she believe that
he/she still has a long time, before one day the death will
come.
Poetic Devices
Repetition
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
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
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
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
Rhyme
Whose woods these are I think I know
(A)
His house is in the village though (A)
He will not see me stopping here (B)
To watch his woods fill up with snow
(A)
He gives his harness bells a shake (C)
To ask if there is some mistake (C)
The only other sound’s the sweep (D)
Of easy wind and downy flake (C)
My little horse must think it queer (B)
To stop without a farmhouse near (B)
Between the woods and frozen lake (C)
The darkest evening of the year (B)
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep
(D)
But I have promises to keep (D)
And miles to go before I sleep (D)
And miles to go before I sleep (D)
Figurative Language
First Stanza
Whose woods these are I think I know (Symbol)
His house is in the village though (Alliteration)
He will not see me stopping here (Alliteration)
To watch his woods fill up with snow (Alliteration & Hyperbole)
Second Stanza
My little horse must think it queer (Personification)
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake (Symbol)
The darkest evening of the year
Third Stanza
He gives his harness bells a shake (Alliteration)
To ask if there is some mistake (Personification)
The only other sound’s the sweep (Alliteration)
Of easy wind and downy flake
Fourth Stanza
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep (Symbol & Alliteration)
But I have promises to keep (Symbol)
And miles to go before I sleep (Symbol & Repetition)
And miles to go before I sleep (Symbol & Repetition)
Meaning
In my opinion, this poetry tells about a human’s life. The
wood is a place where we live now, because sometimes we
will leave this world as the speaker leave the woods. We know
that there are some people who’re so interested on this
world, till they forget that it’s temporary and dark place.
But, some of them realize that this world is just a
temporary. So they do their obligations as servant of God,
before one day they will die.
Conclusion
• The author of this poetry is Robert Frost, one of the best American poet in
history.
• The speaker is an adult in about 40 years old.
• There are two repetition, 1) on word ‘woods’ and 2) on sentence ‘and
miles to go before I sleep’, means that they are important.
• The rhyme is AABA. BBCB, CCDC, and DDDD.
• There are a lot of figurative language, like alliteration, symbol,
personification, hyperbole, and repetition.
• The main message is we must remember on our obligation, before one day
we will die.