Response to Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”

The poem, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” talks about a man travelling through woods far away from the village on the darkest evening of the year. As mentioned in the poem in verse 13, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep”, we can interpret that the speaker is in love with what he is seeing around him. He is on his way back to town but, it is hard for him to tear himself away from the natural beauty of the woods.

The most common interpretations regarding this poem are that it talks about suicide and death, however, my opinion differs. I believe, the poet reveals through the poem that in the hard struggles of life, people may feel tired and have a desire to have time off from the obligations of the world. Just like in the poem, the speaker observes the woods with a keen interest and has an urge for time to cease, but he knows that he cannot stop because there are still responsibilities he has to finish. The 15th verse; “And miles to go before I sleep”, further proves this idea as it shows that he cannot stop and is obligated by his worldly duties.
In 1990, Harjo captured violence and vengeance in "Eagle Poem," a traditional Beauty Way chant. Visually evocative and spiritually stimulating, in ceremonial rhythm, the prayer acknowledges forms of communication other than sound. Parallel phrasing propels the lines along with the physical and spiritual invocation: "To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon /