Robert Frost1

A detailed Summary of Robert Frost1

Robert Frost takes our imaginations to a journey through wintertime with his two poems "Desert Places" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". Frost comes from a New England background and these two poems reflect the beautiful scenery that is present in that part of the country. Even though these poems both have winter settings they contain very different tones. One has a feeling of depressing loneliness and the other a feeling of welcome solitude. They show how the same setting can have totally different impacts on a person depending on their mindset at the time. These poems are both made up of simple stanzas and diction but they are not simple poems. In the poem "Desert Places" the speaker is a man who is traveling through the countryside on a beautiful winter evening. He is completely surrounded with feelings of loneliness. The speaker views a snow covered field as a deserted place. "A blanker whiteness of benighted snow/ With no expression, nothing to express". Whiteness and blankness are two key ideas in this poem. The white symbolizes open and empty spaces. The snow is a white blanket that covers up everything living. The blankness symbolizes the emptiness that the speaker feels. To him there is nothing else around exc

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is a much happier and more upbeat poem than "Desert Places". This poem is about stopping to enjoy life or as the cliche goes, stopping to smell the roses. "But I have promises to keep,/ and miles to go before I sleep". The speaker in this poem was a very busy man who always had obligations to fulfill and places to go. A feeling of regret is present. The man would like to stay and enjoy this private nature scene longer but he knows that he has other things to do. Again, Frost gives us a beautiful nature scene but this time we enjoy welcome solitude. "The woods are lovely, dark and deep". This poem expresses the joy of nature. The speaker seems concerned about what the rest of society would think about him just stopping in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason. His horse represents society. "My little horse must think it queer/ To stop without a farmhouse near". He admits that just stopping does seem odd. He is also somewhat concerned about the man who owns the woods. The man almost feels guilty for looking so lovingly at this other man's woods. "He will not see me stopping here/ To watch his woods fill up with snow". I think that the speakers life may be a little better off since he stopped to take a deep breath and enjoy all that really matters, the simple things.

ept for the unfeeling snow and his lonely thoughts. The speaker in this poem is jealous of the woods. "The woods around it have it - it is theirs." The woods symbolizes people and society. They have something that belongs to them, somet

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Approximate Word count = 1047
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English