STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING SELINA

Question 1
(a) Who is "I” in this poem? Who does the pronoun “whose” refer to?
The narrator of the poem is the “I”
“I’ refers to the owner of the woods by which the narrator of the poem is passing by.

(b) What do the following lines tell us about the speaker?

"...I think I know.
His house is in the village though
We come to know that the speaker knows the person who owns the wood, who stays far away in the village.

(c) Do you think the owner of these "woods” is a lover of nature? Give a reason.
No, the owner of the woods is not a lover of nature as he is in his village indifferent towards the beauty of the woods.

(d) Why does the speaker stop at the woods? What does his stopping here signify?
The speaker stops at the woods to feast his eyes at the beauty of the woods.
His stopping signifies that he is a lover of nature.

(e) What is the significance of "He will not see me stopping here”?
The significance of "He will not see me stopping here" lies in the fact that the owner of the "woods" is unaware that
someone is feasting his yes on his property.

Question 2
(a) From the first two lines what do you figure out about the speaker's occupation?
From the first two lines one can figure out that he is a traveler and probably travels long distance to fulfill his
promises.

(b) What does “must” mean here? Why does the 1little horse”, find it “queer”?
The word “must" means “for sure.”
The little horse finds it “queer” as there was no farmhouse in sight where one can stop to rejuvenate oneself, and
moreover it is a desolate place when it is snowing and already evening.

(c) Which season of the year is being described? What, in the stanza, supports your answer?
The season described is “winter.” The word “frozen lake” suggests that it is winter.

(d) The speaker is on his way to some place. What makes his pausing by the woods unusual, especially at the time
of speaking?
The speaker’s stopping by the “woods” is unusual as —
(a) It is snowing
(b) It is a dark evening

Question 3
(a) Who does “he” stand for? Why does he think there is some “mistake”?
He is the horse. He thinks that there is some mistake as the horse and its traveler usually stops in farmhouses; but as
the traveler has stopped to see at the beauty of the woods, the horse thinks it to be a mistake.

(b) It is very quiet all around, which lines emphasize this?

The last two lines of the extract “The only other sound’s the sweep/ Of easy wind and downy flake” emphasize that it
is quiet all around.
(c) What are the three sounds spoken of?
The three sounds are of (i) horse bells (ii) wind and (iii) the flakes of snow falling.

(d) What image is created by “downy flake”?

“Downy flake” refers to the snow fall, downy means silky, thus the phrase would mean that there is snow falling which
is like silk. The image is that of silky snow falling which is beautiful.

Question 4
(a) Where is the speaker at this time? What is he doing? What makes these woods attractive to the speaker?
The speaker is in front of the woods where he has stopped to feast his eyes on the beauty of the woods. The snowfall
has made the woods look attractive.

(b) What is the significance of the word ‘But’ in the second line? What are the “promises" he has to keep?
The word “but” is significant as the speaker thinks that it is more important for him to fulfill his responsibilities than to
gratify his soul by enjoying the beauty of the woods,

(c) The speaker has to make a decision. What does he decide to do? Why?
The speaker has decided to move ahead and not merely enjoy the beauty of the woods. He decided to do so as he has
some responsibilities to fulfill.

(d) Why, in your opinion, does the poet repeat the line —
“And miles to go before I sleep”?
The poet repeats the line as he wants to emphasize to himself as well as to the readers that he has promises to fulfill,

ESSAY TYPE QUESTIONS

1. Do you think that poet should have stopped near the woods and enjoyed the beauty of nature? Give a reasoned
reply.
The poet stopped beside (he lovely woods on a wintry evening when it was snowing and looked at the woods which
seemed to him to be a visual treat. A lover of nature would find beauty in nature. Though the poet does not describe
the woods in detail, but from the way the poet narrates his reactions after seeing the woods, one would figure out
that it must be a beautiful place. The poet wanted to stop there for a while and enjoy the nature; but he says that he
has some promises to fulfill and therefore he cannot linger on there for a longer time.

It is true that what provides a joy to the soul, one should carry on doing that. But when one has some duties to fulfill
and some promises to keep then one should take that more seriously than merely gratifying one's own soul. The poet
gives more importance to his duties than to his own personal pleasure. It shows that the poet is conscientious and
intends to be very caring about HU promises, Thus the poet is justified in not stopping neat the woods to enjoy it
beauty and in deciding to move on to fulfill his promises.

2. What would you have done if you were in the poet’s situation? What is the poet trying to convey through the
poem?
If l was in Robert Frost's situation l would have done exactly what the poet has done, Robert Frost stopped beside the
lovely woods on a wintry evening when it was snowing and looked at the woods which seemed to him to be a visual
treat, A lover of nature finds beauty in the natural serenity. The poet wanted to stop there for a while and enjoy the
nature^ but he says that he has some promises to fulfill and therefore he cannot linger on there for a longer time, It is
true that what provides a joy to the soul, one should carry on doing that, But when one has some duties to fulfill and
some promises to keep then one should take that more seriously than merely gratifying one's own soul, The poet gives
more Importance to his duties than to his own personal pleasure, It shows that the poet is conscientious and intends
to be very caring about his promises, Thus the poet is justified in not stopping near the woods to enjoy it beauty and in
deciding to move on to fulfill his promises,
3. How do you relate the poem to human beings’ life?

Yes, the poem is a representation of human being's life as many a times we find that there are things that would
provide some Joy to our physical senses and we are persuaded by our senses to enjoy those moments of Ufa) but at
the same time we are reminded that there are many duties and promises that we need to fulfill, Therefore we are
forced to leave those moments of joy and carry forward to fulfill our duties, as does the poet, Thus the poem presents
an essential truth about human life - the truth by which if we carry on living life then we will be doing justice to being
born as a human being, An animal merely pursues things for its own pleasure and does not think about the duties that
it has towards the society at large and towards its fellow beings) but being human, we need to fulfill those duties and
that is what the poet does.

I. (i) The woods belonged to a man, who lived in the village. The speaker has stopped by the woods to watch the snow
filling up the woods.

(ii) The owner of the woods will not see the speaker stopping by the woods because he lives in the village.
The owner of the woods lives in the village, away from nature. Though he owns the woods, he cannot appreciate and
enjoy the beauty of nature. Thus, there are man-made barriers which separate man from nature.

(iii) Woods, being “lovely, dark and deep”, symbolise sensuous enjoyment, the darkness of ignorance, as well as
the dark inner self of man.
The village symbolises society and civilisation, beyond whose borders lie the woods.

(iv) The poet is standing just by the woods and looking at them. He is enchanted by the beauty of the woods.

(v) Yes, the poet is happy with his lonely state in the woods because:
(a) he finds solace in the thoughts that nobody is watching him; and
(b) he is enchanted with the natural beauty of the woods, snow and the frozen lake.

(vi) Robert Frost is regarded as a poet of nature. Unlike, William Wordsworth, another nature poet, who considers
nature as a benevolent mother, Frost considers nature as hostile and alien. In this poem, the poet stops by the woodst
and find them ‘lovely, dark and deep’. He finds himself being seduced by the natural beauty of the woods. But, he
finds this seduction momentary and the charm is soon broken. He remembers that he has to move away from nature
to fulfill his worldly obligations.

II (i) The horse has stopped between the woods and the frozen lake. The horse has stopped there because the
rider (speaker) wants to see the beauty of the woods.

(ii) The horse considers it strange to stop between the woods and the frozen lake because there is no farmhouse,
i.e., civilisation, nearby and that too on the darkest evening of the year.

(iii) ‘The darkest evening of the year1 refers to December 22, the longest night of the year, when there is biting
cold. The word ‘darkness’ in the poem is suggestive of the mystery of nature — the source of nature’s beauty lies in its
mystery, not in its familiarity.

(iv) Symbolically, the horse represents the domesticated part of the society and acts as its agent to remind the
speaker of his responsibilities (by shaking of harness bells) and to wean him from indulging in pleasures of nature.
(v) The main theme of the poem is the basic conflict between an attraction towards nature and the pull of
responsibilities. In this poem, the speaker stands by the woods and is enchanted by the beauty of nature. The shaking
of the harness bells of his horse (symbolising society) and the sound of the wind (symbolising his inner voice) remind
him that he cannot give in to irresponsible indulgence by enjoying the sensual pleasures of nature. He has certain
worldly responsibilities which he must fulfill before he goes to sleep or before his life ends.

III (i)‘He’ refers to the speaker’s horse. He shakes his harness bells to ask the speaker if he has made a mistake in
stopping by the woods.

(ii) ‘He’, i.e., the speaker’s horse considers it a mistake to stop by the woods because it is away from human
society and the speaker is indulging in sensual pleasures of nature forgetting his worldly responsibilities.

(iii) The given lines mean that besides the sound made by the shaking of the harness bells of his horse, the only
other sound
heard was that of the moving wind and flakes of snow falling softly like feathers.

(iv) The shaking of the “harness bells” and the sweeping sound of wind break the speaker’s reverie and
enchantment with nature and jolt him back into the world of reality. He is reminded of his responsibilities, which he
must fulfill before he takes rest.

(v) The poet has created an atmosphere of isolation and mystery in the poem by making the speaker stop by the
woods, away from men or human habitation. Further, the depiction of nature like freezing cold, frozen lake, falling
snow, darkness and complete silence with the only sounds such as those of the shaking of the harness bells and the
sweeping wind has been used to create an atmosphere of isolation and mystery.

IV (i) The speaker considers the woods as “lovely, dark and deep” because he finds them beautiful, mysterious and
seductive. He cannot enjoy the natural scenery in the woods because he is reminded of his responsibilities, which he
must fulfill and move on in life.

(ii) The ‘promises’ referred to by the speaker in the poem include the duties he has to perform and the
responsibilities, he has to fulfill.
The world “sleep” in the poem has two meanings: (a) a metaphor for final sleep or death; and (b) it is symbolic of the
deserved reward which the poet can achieve after keeping his promise, in contrast to the unearned pleasure of
looking at the woods.

(iii) The woods act as an obstacle for keeping the speaker’s promises because the beauty of the woods make the
speaker forget about the civilisation, his responsibilities, which lie outside of the woods and his purpose in life.

(iv) The last two lines of the poem are symbolic of the brief span of human life and the duties, which a man has to
perform before he goes to sleep or before his life ends.

(v) Robert Frost’s poetry is universally recognised as comprising rural themes and dealing with the life of the
humble dwellers of the country side. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening describes the natural beauty of the
woods, with the soft, silent whiteness of the frost, the frozen lake and the falling snow. It is away from human
civilisation and enchants the speaker with its beauty and makes him forget his responsibilities.
V. (i) The poet sees the “lovely, dark and deep” woods, the frozen lake and the soft, silent whiteness of the frost. The
only sounds that he can hear are those made by the shaking of the harness bells of his horse and that of the sweeping
wind.

(ii) The inner conflict in man expressed in the poem is that between an attraction towards nature and the pull of
responsibilities, i.e., the conflict between desire and duty.

(iii) The natural beauty and mystery of the woods, with the soft, silent whiteness of the frost and the falling snow
attract the poet.

(iv) The poet interprets the shaking of the harness bells of the horse as the horse questioning him if he has made a
mistake in stopping by the woods, away from human habitation.
Symbolically, the shaking of the harness bells of the horse points to the society’s act of blaming the speaker for
indulging in sensual pleasure, overlooking his responsibilities.

(v) The extract depicts the theme of isolation by portraying the speaker’s act of stopping by the woods, away
from men or human habitation on a snowy and dark evening. There is complete silence and the only sounds the
speaker can hear are from the shaking of the harness bells and the sweeping wind.

(vi) The contrasting images of the natural world and the man-made world in the poem are the following:
(a) the woods and the farm house.
(b) pleasure and business.
(c) solitude and society.
(d) freedom and responsibility.
(e) desire and duty.