Comparison between Frost's two great poems.
Robert Lee Frost was born in San Francisco, March 26. He was one of America's foremost 20th-century poets and a four-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Although his verse forms are traditional, he was a pioneer in the interplay of rhythm and meter and in the poetic use of the vocabulary and inflections of everyday speech. His poetry is thus both traditional and experimental.
Introduction:
The Road Not Taken talks about weighing of choices in life while Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening is about reflecting on the past choices made in life and how it affects the person as he readies himself for the inevitable end. The former is about youth and experiencing life, the latter is about old age or more probably an old spirit wearied by life.
The Road Not Taken. This free verse style poem is the most popular piece penned by Robert Frost. The Road not Taken talks about a person who comes across an intersection or a fork in the road and he has to choose which way to follow. The road, of course, is a metaphor on the choice/s we make in life.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. The poem does not really contain any direct metaphors or similes in its lines. Its strength unlike “The Road Not Taken” rests on its format and vivid depiction of the woods.
Both poems though make heavy use of symbolism. Both are similar in the fact that they appear to be simple yet close examination reveals hidden meaning. Stopping by the Woods on a Snowing Evening brings the narrator to the woods which follows that he is far from the city which is the symbol of life. Another symbolism is the phrase “Between the woods and the frozen lake”. The woods now become a symbol of life while the frozen lake signifies death. The final example of symbolism is death being compared to sleep. Symbolism in "The Road not Taken" is the represented by the fork in the road.
In “The Road Not Taken”, as the narrator pondered on his choices, he feels strongly that whatever "road" he takes will be for good. So he must weigh his decision well in order to come up with the best choice and not end up regretting it. He weighed his choices well and in the end, chose to follow the road less traveled or the road not taken often by travelers. By doing so, the narrator sort of declared his rebellion to the popular opinion as represented the by the other road. He decided not to conform to society and take up a less popular choice. This could refer to Frost's decision to become a writer, which as we all know, is not exactly a lucrative trade. His decision to take up writing as his profession might have been unpopular at first.
Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening unlike The Road Not Taken does not inspire one to rebel or to take on a active role. At first glance, Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening might denote just that - stopping in the woods to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. Reading between the lines though would reveal that the stop in the poem could be referring to death. Therefore it is more passive. It echoes submission and fatalism a direct contrast to the need for action portrayed in The Road Not Taken.
The Road Not Taken signifies a difficult choice in a person's life that could offer him an easy or hard way out. There are no assurances on what lies ahead; if there will be success or sorrows. This offers a closer glimpse to the author's life. Choosing the harder path is admittance from Frost that he found the fulfillment he sought. Frost shows the typical human reaction when confronted with several choices to take both paths at first (ln13: “Oh I marked the first for another day”), but later confesses he “doubted if [he] should ever come back” (ln15). Thus, the poem's significance lies in Frost coming up with a decision by choosing a road and move on with is life. The act of choosing the road may represent his uniqueness and the fact that he is always moving forward and never stopping.
Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening, on the other hand, does not delve on moving forward but on taking a stop, a cessation of action. In this poem the narrator is actually wishing for death. The topic of death is apparent in a number of Frost's poems. This is probably the reason the last line “And miles to go before I sleep,” is said twice. It makes one thinks the narrator is sighing.
The similarity of The Road not Taken and Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening is more evident when in the latter the narrator admits that even if he longs for rest but he cannot. The horse and cart are preventing him to do so. The horse serves as a reminder for him to get back to reality “to ask if there is some mistake”. The cart represents his duties which he must fulfill which are signified by “harness bells”.
In Stopping by the Words there is a reluctance to continue with the daily routine but the narrator realizes that he has no choice or control over it. The Road Not Taken provides option to the narrator. But both narrators are aware of the fact that life goes on. That life doesn't end when he stops by the woods on a snowy evening or with his death wish. That life still continues after he makes his choice on which way to go as he ponders on the road not often taken.
Conclusion:
Frost's works The Road Not Taken and Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening provide us contrasting and sometimes similar glimpses of life. The Road not Taken is about taking control and living life. Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening entails the desire for rest perhaps due to the narrator's feelings of weariness in facing life's struggles. But things do not end there, just as we make choices in The Road not Taken, the struggles still continue even after we experience Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening, whether we like it or not.
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