Choose one Frost's poems and present the symbols in it. What are they and what do they represent - Essay Example

Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” talks about a simple moment, where a traveler stops in some woods on a cold, snowy evening. He is tempted to stay longer and enjoy this beautiful silence, but responsibilities remind him that he still has a long way to travel. The simplicity of the poem and the description of a single, ordinary and fleeting moment underlie a deeper, symbolic representation of life. The woods, although beautiful and serene, represent a dark and lonely place away from society and responsibilities.

This isolation is tempting and seems to offer peace and quiet but is something no one would want or advise. For example, even the owner of these woods is away in his village on this “darkest evening of the year” (8). The village symbolizes society and civilization and is separate from this lonely, isolated spot so that even the owner won’t know that this visitor was here. The traveler imagines that even the horse isn’t pleased to be here, “My little horse must think it queer / To stop without a farmhouse near” (5-6).

The horse, although an animal, represents a domesticated and normal part of society. It offers some sense of reality and responsibility and shakes the traveler away from this tempting and even dangerous feeling of staying on too long in order “To watch his woods fill up with snow” (4). The woods are quiet and the only sounds are that of the wind and “downy flake” (12). Dwelling any longer in this place, although lovely, is also “dark and deep” (13). The traveler realizes that he has “miles” to go, symbolizing the life still ahead to live filled with promises, duties and responsibilities.

The repetition of the last two lines, “And miles to go before I sleep” represent the long years ahead before sleep, symbolizing death, actually overtakes him (15-16). References Frost, Robert. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Retrieved from http://www.ketzle.com/frost/snowyeve.htm.