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Sazmuffin

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  • on Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, on February 9, 2005
    hm.
    i heard it's about suicide.

    "He will not see me stopping here"- this is almost "it's okay, i can take 5 minutes off to contemplate suicide because no one will know" bit farfetched i know, but plausible nonetheless.

    when i first read it i had the sense it was about giving up. the last line ~(reiterating the previous) sounds tired, and capitulated.."And miles to go before i sleep," the first time he says this, it's almost said with purpose as it follows on from "But I have promises to keep" telling us he has a lot more to accomplish before he comes back to this dreary-eyed sleep world or death- as some say. but the second time..sounds less enthusiastic and the idea of living-on sounding more tedious. the repetition of the line changes the previous line too "But I have promises to keep"- displaying it in a different context: promises becoming ties, ties that prevent him from staying in this "limbo" where he is neither living or dead: pit stop.

    the last two lines are almost hypnotic, the whole poem is very sleep-orientated, "downy flake" - the fall of snow reflect the falling into sleep.
    "My little horse must think it queer
    To stop without a farmhouse near" - i love this, my favourite bit.. i mean, a "pragmatic horse" : it's wonderful! Personification of the horse epitomises what people would think of this pertinacious behaviour, in both senses. In the literal sense: there is no point in stopping in the middle of nowhere for nothing. In the metaphorical: suicide should not be contemplated, but either done or not done..there should be no decision to it, for if it was meant to be, it would have been. also, suicide in Frosts' time was less understood than nowadays, so yes..thought of as very "queer"..especially when the mind frame of the suidal person is not known, which is often the case. poor horse

    "The darkest evening of the year." - darkness is often associated with death, though interpreted as a sad and horrible place. here, darkness is the comfort...the light at the end of the tunnel if you like ( hehe) peace after the dying and suffering within life. "The woods are lovely, dark and deep." - very comforting imagery darkness reveals.
    i have a theory about suicide and dying, although heavily flawed. i believe you automatically start dying the second you contemplate suicide...the thought of escape never leaves once you turn this corner. it's unfortunate that this has to be the case.

    "He gives his harness bells a shake
    To ask if there is some mistake." - hehe, i love this horse...it's all confuzzled, but simultaneously seeming to have more sense than it's rider.

    dunno why i exploded the poem like i have done, i suppose it's because this is my favourite poem by Frost and never had the chance to explore it in any kind of depth before.
    i have a new kind of respect for this one..


    sara