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Robert Frost UNIT 23 ' ROBERT FROST Contents 23.0 Objectives ,23.1 Introduction 23.2 Frost 23.3 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening' 23.3.1 Outline of the poem 23.3.2 Appreciation 23.3.3 Poetic Devices 23.4 'The Road Not Taken' 23.4.1 Outline of the poem 23.4.2 Critical Appreciation 23.4.3 Poetic Devices 23.5 Summing Up 23.6 Answers to Self-check Exercises 23.0 OBJECTIVES After reading this unit, you should be able to analyse and appreciate the following poems of Robert Frost: 'Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening' and 'The Road Not Taken: Frost became popular in lndia because his poetry was a source of comfort and inspiration to Jawaharlal Nehru the first Prime Minister of India. In the following sections we shall study &d analyqe two of his poems. 23.2 FROST (1874-1963) Robert Frost is one of the well-known American Poets. He was born qn 26 March 1874 in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. The first two volumes of his poetry : A Bov's will (1913) and North of Boston (1914) were first published in England. Later, eight more volumes of his poetry were brought out in America : Mountain interval (1916), New Hampshire (1923), West Running Brook (1928), A Further Range (1936), A Witness Tree (1942), Come in and otherPoeau(1943) A Masque of Reason (1945) and A Masque of Mercy (1947). ' 23.3 "STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING" Whose woods these are I think I know. His House is in the village though He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farm house near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake The only other sounds' the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely dark and deep But I have promises to keep And miles to go before I sleep And miles to go before I sleep. 23.3.1 Outline of the Poem The poem comprises four stanzas. In stanza 1, the poet says that he knows the owner of the woods whose house is in the village and who may not see the poet admiringly watching his woods filling up with snow. - . .a In stanza 2,the poet fancifully imagines that his horse might tKink it strange to stop between the woods and the frozen lake where there is no farmhouse. In stanza 3, the poet continues in the same vein as in stanza 2, and imagines that the horse shakes his harness bells now and then to ask whether there is any mistake in stopping near the woods. Further the poet says that besides the sovnd of the bells, the only other sound is that of the wind. In the concluding porfion of the poem i.e. stanza 4, the poet declares &at even thoughJ the woods are attracti(e, he can not go to the woods as he has a number of promises to keep and many miks to travel before taking rest. 23.3.2 ~pptechtion The poem is not just a record of something'that once happened to the poet. It expresses the conflict between the demands of practical life with its obligations to ,others and the poignant desire to escape into a land of reverie. The poet's consciousness seems to be on the verge of freeing itself from ordinary lie, but the poet remembers that his journey has a purpose and he has promises to keep and miles to go before he can yield to the dream like release which the woods offer. There is no overt symbolism in this poem. Yet the reader finds his vision directed in such a way that he sees the poet's purely personal experience as an image of experiences common to all. The wide scope of the meaning becomes obvious in the last four lines. These state the conflict.. in a simple, realistic way. Further, the depth, richness and significance of the lyric is brought out only on a svmbolistic readinn. Sleea. and darkness. sunnest death and the woods sunnest enchantment. Frost's symbols define and explain each other. The woods which the poet enjoys looking upon are opposed to the promises he must keep. Since the poet will allow himself to sleep only after he has kept his promises. Sleep becomes a deserved reward in contrast to the unearned pleasure of looking at the woods. 'Stopping by woods on a snowy evening is one of Frost's best poem and it inspired Jawaharlal Nehru, who can be called a poet-politician. Let us now take a look at the poetic devices used by Frost. 23.3.3 Poetic Devices 1) We have written above that 'Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening' is a lyric. To refresh your memory, we will tell you briefly what a lyric is. The term lyric is 'used for any fairly short, non-narrative poem presenting a single speaker who expresses a state of mind or a process of thought or feeling. Don't you think Frost has expresses a state of his mind through the prescribed poem? 2) The first three stanzas follow the rhyme pattern a-a-bla. In the last stanza, the end-words in all the four lines rhyme with each otherdeep-keep-sleep-sleep. 3) As we have discussed in Section 18.4 darkness and sleep are symbol for death, the woods for enchantment or reverie. W~uldyou find out if any other literary devices are used in 'Stopping By Woods? Self-check ~xerdses1 1) Write a critical appreciation of 'Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening'. ( 1SO words ) 4 2) The woods are lovely, dark and deep But I have promises to keep And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep. Elucidate the above lines. (100 words ) 23.4 'THE ROAD NOT TAKEN' Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth, 43 : lbAwrlerpoQ Then took the other, as just as fair, And.having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leave no step had trodden black Oh, 1 kept the first for another day : Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. 1 shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence; Two roads converged in a wood, and 1- I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference. 23.4.1 Outline of the Poem One day, while travelling alone, the poet arrives at a point where the two roads diverge. As he cannot travel on both he looks down one road as far as he can. Later, he takes another as it is more grassy and a little less frequented through actually there is no such difference for 'the passing the= had worn really about the same.' As one way leads on to another, the poet wonders whether he would ever come back to the same spot. Yet even at the moment of making a choice the poet is of the view that the choice is important, that he would some day be telling that he has taken the less travelled road and 'that has made all the difference'. 23.4.2 Appreciation 'The Road Not Taken' is one of the most popular lyrics of Robert Frost. It was published in 1916 in the volume of poems entitled Mountain Intend. Frost's imagination set at work by the difficulty of choosing one of the two roads which diverge at a particular point. The problem of making a choice is an important theme in Frost's poetry and it is also the theme of the present poem. 'The Road Not Taken' is a great lyric which records a personal experience of the poet. But, from the personal and the individual, the poet rises to the universal and the general. The poet's experience becomes symbolic of human experience in all times and countries. The difficulty of making a choice is a universal experience. Moreover, it was the choice the poet Robert Frost made which determined his destiny and made him a poet different from others. It is thus that even minor decisions have far-reaching consequences. A step once taken or way once chosen can never be retraced. Further, the emphasis, in the present poem, on the importance of making a choice comes close to the thinking of Indian philosophers. "Progress happens at sub-human level; progress is willed at the human," said Professor Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan. e Similarly, if you look back at 'Stopping By Woods', you would appreciate the way the poet thinks about the promises to keep and the miles to go before he sleeps. His manner was dispassionate; there was no attachment to the fruits of actions. Does not Frost's approach similar to the Indian concept of"Nishkam Karma' (action without attachr?cnt)? You must ruminate over this point. We shall, in the meanwhile, proceed to the next section for discussing the poetic devices used in 'The Road Not Taken'. 23.4.3 Poetic Devices 1) In 'The Road Not Taken' there are four stanzas and each stanza contains five lines.
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