In the third line of the first quatrain, long ‘e’ sounds are abundant, putting emphasis on words such as “he,” “see,” and “me” (“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” 3). If the narrator is simply taking time to look at the icy scene, why would thoughts about unaffecting descriptions be interrupted by uncertainty unless the prospect of some action is causing him to be ill at ease?Īssonance can also be used to identify the narrator’s uneasiness and his making a point of stopping where no one can see him. In the beginning line, the narrator states “whose woods these are… ” no punctuation is added here, yet the reader pauses before finishing the line with an uncertain…“I think I know” (“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” 1). A caesura is where the reader instinctively pauses even if there is no punctuation. In the very first line, the narrator seems to express a peculiar uncertainty. If the reader were to examine “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” from the technical aspects, deeper layers are unearthed that prove the narrator as suicidal. While the poem does – at first glance – appear to be describing the narrator as merely looking at nature, his gazing upon the frozen forest is only a superficial layer.
On the other hand, some insist that the narrator is contemplating suicide. On one side, some argue that the narrator is simply looking over the scenery. In Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” the motive behind the narrator’s “stopping” has long been debated (3).
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