17 pages • 34 minutes read
Robert FrostStopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1923A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Form and Meter
Despite the deceptive simplicity of the language, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” consists of four stanzas written in a rigid interlocking Rubaiyat form. This type of poetry is made up of an unlimited number of quatrains, or four-line stanzas, in iambic tetrameter with a fixed repeating rhyme scheme.
In a traditional Rubaiyat poem, each line will be exactly 10 syllables, following the iambic pentameter rhythm. However, Frost’s poem deviated by using tetrameter, or eight-syllable lines. Like a traditional Rubaiyat, the first two lines and the fourth line of the first stanza all rhyme. In the second stanza, the first two lines and the fourth line will rhyme with the third line of the first stanza. That pattern will continue as the first, second, and fourth line of the third stanza rhyme with the third line of the second stanza, and so forth. Thus, the rhyme scheme is as follows:
AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD
The only deviation to the classic form is the length of the lines, as noted above, and the final rhyming quatrain with its double repeated lines at the very end, though the seamless rhythm is maintained throughout.
The effect on the reader is subtle but gives a near-subconscious chain-like effect as each stanza is linked to the ones preceding and following. The form gives the poem a seamless quality that’s particularly well-suited to being read out loud. The intricacy of the craft juxtaposed against the approachable colloquialism of the language suggests layers of meaning within the poem, the poignant superimposed over the mundane.
Alliteration
Frost’s poem makes use of repeated sounds throughout the stanzas, contributing to its overall voice and lullaby quality. Each sound is used with precision in an onomatopoeic way to further immerse the reader in the speaker’s world.
The first stanza favors “W” and “S” sounds in “Whose woods” (Line 1) and later, “watch his woods” (Line 4); “house is” (Line 2), “see me stopping” (Line 3), and the final word “snow” (Line 4)—which is cleverly bookended by each soft consonant. There are also repeated “H” and “Th” sounds in “these are I think” (Line 1) and “His house is in the village though” (Line 2). The “S” and “H” sounds continue in the third stanza with “He gives his harness bells a shake” (Line 9) and “sound’s the sweep” (Line 11).
In addition to being visually balanced, the alliteration gives the poem a melancholy auditory effect. These sounds bring to mind the natural rhythm of rustling trees and wind, adding a sensation of softness and silence to the piece. The effect is not overt—it is intended to be absorbed while reading, giving the reader the feeling of being present in the winter silence beside the speaker.
It is only in the final stanza that harsh consonants are emphasized, as in “dark and deep” (Line 13) and the rhyming “keep” (Line 14). These new sounds signify a turning point in the poem as the speaker turns their attention to the road ahead. Although the phrase “dark and deep” is in reference to the beauty of the woods, the shift in auditory tone can suggest that they also refer to the world beyond the woods, the harsh realities of the everyday.
Sensory Imagery
The poem engages with different physical senses to create an engaging, immersive image. This suits the mood and subject of the piece as the speaker is resting in a single moment, engaging with the world around them. The first stanza draws attention to visual cues—one referring to sight (“To watch his woods” [Line 4]), and one referring to the lack of it (“He will not see me” [Line 3]). These two lines juxtaposed against each other illustrate the power of stopping and watching what the world has to offer.
The third stanza of the poem focuses solely on sound: the lone jingle of the horse’s harness bells contrasted against “the sweep / Of easy wind and downy flake” (Lines 11-12). Without any direct visual cues, the reader is encouraged to stop and listen to the sound of the poem and the world of the speaker. The idea of darkness as a visual and sensory concept is visited twice: In the second stanza, the speaker remarks on “The darkest evening of the year” (Line 8), and later, the “dark and deep” woods (Line 13). While darkness as a motif in poetry is often equated with themes like grief, fear, or trauma, here darkness is used to suggest stillness, silence, and peace. Even the “darkest evening” (Line 8) refers to a moment of rest and restoration at the apex of the year before the light slowly returns to the natural world.
The sensory trajectory from the visual, to the auditory, to the sensation of darkness parallels the story told within the poem. The speaker moves from a visual discovery, to a moment of stillness, to riding away into the dark—both literal and as a metaphor for the “promises” (Line 14) still awaiting them on the other side.
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By Robert Frost
