Sample Poetry Paper (English 102)

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Joe T. Writer
Mr. Langley
English 102
Thursday June 30, 2005
Nature’s Choice
Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” consists of four
almost identically constructed stanzas. Each line is iambic with four stressed syllables.
The first, second, and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme with each other. There is one
exception in the final stanza, where the third line rhymes with the previous two and is
repeated as the fourth line. This is a very relaxing poem on the surface, evidenced by a
calm imagery that creates a vivid mental picture. The first stanza of this poem is rather
simple and provides the basis for this imagery. The easy pace that the speaker takes is
demonstrated in the last line of the first stanza, when Frost writes, “To watch his woods
fill up with snow” (Frost 1070).
The second stanza provides a more in-depth view of the imagery sketched out in
the first. This stanza provides a more definite time and location and gives a more detailed
image of the scene: “Between the woods and frozen lake / The darkest evening of the
year” (Frost 1070). As James Cox notes, these lines describe a quiet, dark, and lonely
setting.
The poem is about the spell of the woods—the traveler’s own woods, we
want to say, but they are alien enough and belong to someone else enough
for him to sense the trespass of his intent gaze into them at the same time
he recognizes their sway over him. His heightened awareness projects his

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concern for himself back to the representatives of civilization, the unseen
owner of the woods and the horse in harness. Thus, the indifferent animal
becomes, in his master’s alerted imagination, the guardian who sounds the
alarm which rings above the whispered invitation. (151)
The poem deals with much conflict for the speaker. As another critic says, “’Stopping by
Woods on a Snowy Evening’ rejects nature’s impersonal appeal in favor of purpose, but
the carefully vague last stanza refuses to indicate whether such purpose is self-generated
or determined” (Nitchie 44). Cox adds, “The haunting rhythms of ‘Stopping by Woods
on a Snowy Evening’ express the powerful fascination the woods have on the traveler,
who—in the face of a long journey, descending night, and falling snow—pauses in the
gathering gloom of the darkest evening of the year, transfixed by the compelling
invitation of the forest” (150). Should he stay in the woods, where he is enjoying the
peaceful serenity away from the troubles of his everyday life? Or should he leave the
woods, go back into town, and face his obligations and continue to live his life? The
speaker answers these questions in the last two lines: “And miles to go before I sleep /
And miles to go before I sleep” (Frost 1070).
Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” consists of four stanzas with five
lines in each stanza. There are four stressed syllables per line, and the rhyme scheme is
five lines, with the exception of the last line “And that has made all the difference” (Frost
143). Similar to “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” this poem uses imagery to
delineate the setting of this poem: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (Frost 142)
creates a vivid picture of the concrete present. This poem exemplifies the speaker’s belief
that which path individuals choose in life makes them the people that they are. Nitchie

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writes, “The problem of choice is in a way even more elementary, since neither selfinterest,
moral obligation, nor even curiosity provides a real basis for preferring one road
to the other” (17). By choosing a certain path, “[b]ecause it was grassy and wanted wear”
(Frost 143), the speaker must assume a sense of risk, especially when it is a path that has
not been traveled often. This risk is made more apparent by the fact that previous people,
faced with the choice of which road to take, chose the other one.
We gain insight into the traveler’s personality that he is one who does not follow
the crowd but assumes his own identity by taking the path to the unknown, although he
does contemplate whether or not the right decision has been made. The speaker wants to
travel down both paths, but he realizes that he has made a decision and cannot look back
once he has made it. In this regard, Nitchie says, “For all that the act of choice is
presented as whimsical and unmotivated, the speaker is aware that his choice will have
consequences, though he cannot tell what those consequences will be” (160). The speaker
must trust his judgment to be the correct choice for leading his course of life. In the end
he is satisfied with his choice: “I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the
difference” (Frost 143). To the speaker, what really made the difference is that he was in
control of his decision and he chose to take the less traveled road; therefore, he is the man
he is today because of that decision.
These two poems are similar in a variety of ways. Both poems consist of four
stanzas and an abundance of rhyme and imagery. These two poems are very well known
for their simplicity. However, they both can be interpreted in many ways and easily
misunderstood. In the poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” the speaker
takes in a lovely scene, is tempted to stay longer, but acknowledges a burden of

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obligations. This burden appears in the line, “But I have promises to keep” (Frost 1070).
As one critic says, “In ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ there is the
attractiveness, the seductive and dark beauty of the woods filling up with snow. But there
are also the promises to be kept. The speaker shows his humanity by his full awareness of
this beauty, but he defines it finally by returning to the world of action and obligation”
(Ryan 133). However, in the poem “The Road Not Taken,” the speaker must choose
which path to take, even though it appears he will be faced with second-guessing himself
somewhere down the line. This dilemma is apparent in the lines “I shall be telling this
with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence:”(Frost 143). One critic describes this sigh
as follows: “The ‘sigh,’ of course helps characterize the ‘I,’ and provides the fist hint that
the poem is a gentle parody of the kind of person whose life in the present is distorted by
nostalgic regrets for the possibilities of the past, who is less concerned for the road taken
than for ‘the road not taken’” (Barry 12).
In both of these poems, the speakers face life-altering decisions. In “Stopping by
Woods on a Snowy Evening,” the speaker must choose between succumbing to
loneliness and depression or realizing there is much to be gained by living a happier life.
In “The Road Not Taken,” the speaker must choose between two paths, not knowing
what the future holds and if he will ever have the chance to find out what was passed up.
In short, these two poems indicate a human being’s struggle with uncertainty and the
inner turmoil that surrounds many of life’s decisions.

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Works Cited
Barry, Elaine. Robert Frost. New York: Frederick Unger Publishing Co., 1973. 12.
Cox, James M. “Robert Frost and the Edge of the Clearing.” The Virginia Quarterly
Review. January, 1959: 144-154.
Frost, Robert. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Henry Holt & Co., 1916.
Rpt. in Literature: The Human Experience. 8 th ed. Eds. Richard Abcarian and
Marvin Klotz. Boston: Bedford Books, 2004. 1070.
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Henry Holt & Co., 1916. Rpt. in Literature:
The Human Experience. 8 th ed. Eds. Richard Abcarian and Marvin Klotz.
Boston: Bedford Books, 2004. 142-143.
Nitchie, George W. Human Values in the Poetry of Robert Frost. Durham: Duke
University Press, 1960. 17, 44, 160.
Ryan, Alvan S. “Frost and Emerson: Voice and Vision.” The Massachusetts Review
January, 1959: 124-137.