Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Watch this video of Frost reading Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/video/18
Part of what is astounding about this poem is that while the imagery, diction and rhymes appear simple, the poem is structured in quite a difficult and complex form. The poem consists of four almost identically constructed stanzas. Each line is iambic, with four stressed syllables:
Within the four lines of each stanza, the first, second, and fourth lines rhyme. The third line does not, but it sets up the rhymes for the next stanza. For example, in the third stanza, queer, near, and year all rhyme, but lake rhymes with shake, mistake, and flake in the following stanza.
The notable exception to this pattern comes in the final stanza, where the third line rhymes with the previous two and is repeated as the fourth line.
1. A critic, Guy Rotella, says “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening stages its play of opposites at typically Frostian borders between night and day, storm and hearth, nature and culture, individual and group, freedom and responsibility.” What would you say is the basic conflict of this poem?
2. Two worlds have claims on the persona. How are these two worlds described? What might “woods” represent or symbolise? How does Frost create a division between the woods and the village (and what it might represent or symbolise)?
3. The phrase "pathetic fallacy" is a literary term for the attributing of human emotion and conduct to all aspects within nature. It is a kind of personification that is found in poetic writing when, for example, clouds seem sullen, when leaves dance, when dogs laugh, or when rocks seem indifferent. What example/s of pathetic fallacy can you identify in this poem and what is the effect?
4. The combination of the word “queer” (synonyms: odd, strange, unusual, peculiar, curious, weird, unexpected, abnormal, different, remarkable, puzzling, mystifying, perplexing, baffling, incongruous) with the reference to the winter solstice (“the darkest evening of the year”) creates a sense of enchantment or magic. At this point, the rhyme scheme also seems to take on a drowsy, soporific quality. What effect does this have on the poem as a whole?
5. What is the effect of the lines “Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep”?
6. What is the effect of the repetition in the last two lines of the poem?
7. At the end of the poem, we are not necessarily left with a sense that the persona and his horse have moved on, only that he is conscious of his responsibilities. What is the effect of this uncertainty?
8. How might you talk about this poem as a representation of discovery?
Robert Frost’s After Apple-Picking
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/video/18
Part of what is astounding about this poem is that while the imagery, diction and rhymes appear simple, the poem is structured in quite a difficult and complex form. The poem consists of four almost identically constructed stanzas. Each line is iambic, with four stressed syllables:
Within the four lines of each stanza, the first, second, and fourth lines rhyme. The third line does not, but it sets up the rhymes for the next stanza. For example, in the third stanza, queer, near, and year all rhyme, but lake rhymes with shake, mistake, and flake in the following stanza.
The notable exception to this pattern comes in the final stanza, where the third line rhymes with the previous two and is repeated as the fourth line.
1. A critic, Guy Rotella, says “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening stages its play of opposites at typically Frostian borders between night and day, storm and hearth, nature and culture, individual and group, freedom and responsibility.” What would you say is the basic conflict of this poem?
2. Two worlds have claims on the persona. How are these two worlds described? What might “woods” represent or symbolise? How does Frost create a division between the woods and the village (and what it might represent or symbolise)?
3. The phrase "pathetic fallacy" is a literary term for the attributing of human emotion and conduct to all aspects within nature. It is a kind of personification that is found in poetic writing when, for example, clouds seem sullen, when leaves dance, when dogs laugh, or when rocks seem indifferent. What example/s of pathetic fallacy can you identify in this poem and what is the effect?
4. The combination of the word “queer” (synonyms: odd, strange, unusual, peculiar, curious, weird, unexpected, abnormal, different, remarkable, puzzling, mystifying, perplexing, baffling, incongruous) with the reference to the winter solstice (“the darkest evening of the year”) creates a sense of enchantment or magic. At this point, the rhyme scheme also seems to take on a drowsy, soporific quality. What effect does this have on the poem as a whole?
5. What is the effect of the lines “Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep”?
6. What is the effect of the repetition in the last two lines of the poem?
7. At the end of the poem, we are not necessarily left with a sense that the persona and his horse have moved on, only that he is conscious of his responsibilities. What is the effect of this uncertainty?
8. How might you talk about this poem as a representation of discovery?
Robert Frost’s After Apple-Picking
Listen to Robert Frost reading this poem:
http://town.hall.org/radio/HarperAudio/012294_harp_ITH.html
Under the first title The Road Not Taken:
audio for After Apple-Picking (6:16)
What novels have you read or films have you seen where some small-seeming catalyst leads to a completely different way of viewing the world? This idea of the experience of “epiphany” gives us a foothold to work from when navigating this poem. Think of the red or blue pill in The Matrix, the various things ingested by Alice in Wonderland. Isaac Newton watched an apple falling to the ground, Archimedes got in and out of the bath. These mundane or bizarre little activities allowed them to see the world afresh, noticing different things and understanding things in a new way.
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
In this poem, the persona came out to work in his orchard one cold morning. He went to the trough that his animals drank from and lifted from its surface a sheet of ice – he describes it using the metaphor “a pane of glass”. He held it up and looked through it, as one would a window, at “the world of hoary [grey, white, silver, silvery – essentially frosty] grass”. As a result of the way he saw the world through that ice, he says “I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight”. Note that both the ice and the appearance of the grass has come about through frost and Robert Frost likes this little play on his own name – have a look back at Mending Wall for another example of this playfulness.
Now, that’s a very literal introduction to what this poem is about. What we get to do next is delve. The temptation is just to read this poem once through and say, “That was nice, let’s move on,” but this is HSC English and unfortunately that’s not how we do things in HSC English! What we’re going to do now is PLAY!
1. Alright, let’s start with the title. What do you associate with an apple? Think seasons, think symbolically, think of all the things apples have been imbued with in stories and culture.
2. What does the use of the word “after” imply in the title? Take it to the furthest place you can take it.
My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
3. Frost describes a ladder stuck up into one of the apple trees in his orchard. Obviously, this would have the literal purpose of allowing him to climb higher into the tree to reach more apples for his harvest. Figuratively speaking, what do you think these first two lines might suggest about where the poet is in his life? What are the symbolic implications of his ladder pointing towards heaven? If it interests you, you might like to research some of the various biblical allusions that some of Frost’s critics see in this poem.
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
4. These lines, on a literal level, talk about the farmer having had enough of the harvesting. He acknowledges that there may be an empty barrell and he may have overlooked two or three apples that still hang on the tree, but he’s done. He’s had enough or he simply feels he can’t work any more. When we shift our perspective to think about a poet’s work rather than a farmer’s work, how might we interpret these lines?
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
…
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take
5. In a literal reading of the poem, we might note that the persona has come to the end of a hard winter’s day or working – the night approaches and he is tired. The constant perfume of the apples has, in a sense, intoxicated him, perhaps he is bored of it, and he is ready for bed.
However, when we approach these lines symbolically, what might be the implications of “winter”, “sleep” and “drowsing”, “dreaming”? What if this poem is not about the end of a farmer’s day of hard work but the end of a poet’s life and work? What else can you see in the poem that might support this reading of the text?
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.
6. What other ways might images of apples or of the process of apple-picking alude to poems or the work of a poet?
7. Look at this site for a range of comments about the structure (rhyme scheme etc) of the poem: http://poemshape.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/on-robert-frosts-after-apple-picking/
What comments can you make about the effect of the structure of the poem on what it conveys?
8. The word “sleep” appears a number of times in this poem and is echoed by selected rhyming words. What is the effect of this repetition?
9. What are the different ways you could interpret the sleep that the poem constantly refers to?
10. How would you talk about this poem as a representation of discovery?
Robert Frost’s Home Burial
http://town.hall.org/radio/HarperAudio/012294_harp_ITH.html
Under the first title The Road Not Taken:
audio for After Apple-Picking (6:16)
What novels have you read or films have you seen where some small-seeming catalyst leads to a completely different way of viewing the world? This idea of the experience of “epiphany” gives us a foothold to work from when navigating this poem. Think of the red or blue pill in The Matrix, the various things ingested by Alice in Wonderland. Isaac Newton watched an apple falling to the ground, Archimedes got in and out of the bath. These mundane or bizarre little activities allowed them to see the world afresh, noticing different things and understanding things in a new way.
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
In this poem, the persona came out to work in his orchard one cold morning. He went to the trough that his animals drank from and lifted from its surface a sheet of ice – he describes it using the metaphor “a pane of glass”. He held it up and looked through it, as one would a window, at “the world of hoary [grey, white, silver, silvery – essentially frosty] grass”. As a result of the way he saw the world through that ice, he says “I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight”. Note that both the ice and the appearance of the grass has come about through frost and Robert Frost likes this little play on his own name – have a look back at Mending Wall for another example of this playfulness.
Now, that’s a very literal introduction to what this poem is about. What we get to do next is delve. The temptation is just to read this poem once through and say, “That was nice, let’s move on,” but this is HSC English and unfortunately that’s not how we do things in HSC English! What we’re going to do now is PLAY!
1. Alright, let’s start with the title. What do you associate with an apple? Think seasons, think symbolically, think of all the things apples have been imbued with in stories and culture.
2. What does the use of the word “after” imply in the title? Take it to the furthest place you can take it.
My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
3. Frost describes a ladder stuck up into one of the apple trees in his orchard. Obviously, this would have the literal purpose of allowing him to climb higher into the tree to reach more apples for his harvest. Figuratively speaking, what do you think these first two lines might suggest about where the poet is in his life? What are the symbolic implications of his ladder pointing towards heaven? If it interests you, you might like to research some of the various biblical allusions that some of Frost’s critics see in this poem.
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
4. These lines, on a literal level, talk about the farmer having had enough of the harvesting. He acknowledges that there may be an empty barrell and he may have overlooked two or three apples that still hang on the tree, but he’s done. He’s had enough or he simply feels he can’t work any more. When we shift our perspective to think about a poet’s work rather than a farmer’s work, how might we interpret these lines?
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
…
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take
5. In a literal reading of the poem, we might note that the persona has come to the end of a hard winter’s day or working – the night approaches and he is tired. The constant perfume of the apples has, in a sense, intoxicated him, perhaps he is bored of it, and he is ready for bed.
However, when we approach these lines symbolically, what might be the implications of “winter”, “sleep” and “drowsing”, “dreaming”? What if this poem is not about the end of a farmer’s day of hard work but the end of a poet’s life and work? What else can you see in the poem that might support this reading of the text?
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.
6. What other ways might images of apples or of the process of apple-picking alude to poems or the work of a poet?
7. Look at this site for a range of comments about the structure (rhyme scheme etc) of the poem: http://poemshape.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/on-robert-frosts-after-apple-picking/
What comments can you make about the effect of the structure of the poem on what it conveys?
8. The word “sleep” appears a number of times in this poem and is echoed by selected rhyming words. What is the effect of this repetition?
9. What are the different ways you could interpret the sleep that the poem constantly refers to?
10. How would you talk about this poem as a representation of discovery?
Robert Frost’s Home Burial
Unfortunately, no recording of Frost reading this poem could be located. However, it is extremely readable, functioning more like a play made up of the dialogue between its two characters and brief intrusions by a narrator. I defy you to read it without crying.
With regard to discovery, as you will see, this poem depicts a kind of break-through in a relationship between two people who are grieving but it also shows the limits of communication. Just as in Mending Wall, we see communication breaking down even as the two parties actually converse – a failure of communication and empathy.
1. Complete a detailed character study for each character in this poem.
a) What kind of person do you think they are?
b) How do they feel about their grief?
c) How do they feel about the other?
2. What do they learn about each other in this poem? How does Frost convey this?
3. Do you think their relationship can be salvaged? Why or why not? How does Frost convey this?
4. What is the double entendre in the title of the poem?
5. What is the effect of the use of “always” in the 7th line?
6. “A man must partly give up being a man with women-folk.” What does this reveal about the context in which the poem is set and about the speaker?
7. Much of the pain between the characters in this poem comes from them talking at cross-purposes and wrongly interpreting one another’s attempts at communication. The wife, Amy, interprets her husband’s comment on the vulnerability of a birch fence as a sign of callous indifference to the events in their home. How might they be interpreted differently so that they actually have a lot “to do with what was in the darkened parlour”?
8. Frost maintains balance in this poem. He doesn't fully allow us to completely sympathise with one character over the other.
Do you agree? Why or why not? Provide examples of the way that you see Frost creating balance or show how you see him leading us to favour the cause of one parent over the other.
9. Once you’ve read this poem and worked through the questions above, go back and compare it to The Tuft of Flowers and Mending Wall. What do you think Robert Frost thinks about human companionship and communication?
10. How does this poem represent discovery?
With regard to discovery, as you will see, this poem depicts a kind of break-through in a relationship between two people who are grieving but it also shows the limits of communication. Just as in Mending Wall, we see communication breaking down even as the two parties actually converse – a failure of communication and empathy.
1. Complete a detailed character study for each character in this poem.
a) What kind of person do you think they are?
b) How do they feel about their grief?
- List all of the words/phrases/images that reveal this.
c) How do they feel about the other?
- The other as a person/ as a spouse.
- The other’s process of grieving – list words/phrases/images
- The other’s behaviour - list words/phrases/images
- How are they different to their spouse? How are they similar?
- How do they speak to the other? What is the substance of what is conveyed? How is it conveyed and what does this reveal about how they perceive the other?
- How does their body move? How are their postures and movements described? What does this convey about them as an individual and about their relationship with the other?
2. What do they learn about each other in this poem? How does Frost convey this?
3. Do you think their relationship can be salvaged? Why or why not? How does Frost convey this?
4. What is the double entendre in the title of the poem?
5. What is the effect of the use of “always” in the 7th line?
6. “A man must partly give up being a man with women-folk.” What does this reveal about the context in which the poem is set and about the speaker?
7. Much of the pain between the characters in this poem comes from them talking at cross-purposes and wrongly interpreting one another’s attempts at communication. The wife, Amy, interprets her husband’s comment on the vulnerability of a birch fence as a sign of callous indifference to the events in their home. How might they be interpreted differently so that they actually have a lot “to do with what was in the darkened parlour”?
8. Frost maintains balance in this poem. He doesn't fully allow us to completely sympathise with one character over the other.
Do you agree? Why or why not? Provide examples of the way that you see Frost creating balance or show how you see him leading us to favour the cause of one parent over the other.
9. Once you’ve read this poem and worked through the questions above, go back and compare it to The Tuft of Flowers and Mending Wall. What do you think Robert Frost thinks about human companionship and communication?
10. How does this poem represent discovery?