Sample Poetry Paper (English 102)

Writer 2
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