Critical Analysis of -Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

The poet begins the poem with his questioner approach, intentionally wondering
that these woods seemed familiar to him at some point in time. The narrator is
passing by someone’s residence, feeling chirpy and satisfied in his shadowy
existence. He has stopped briefly to fully take in the wondrous view in front of
him.

the narrator wants to narrate the horse’s mind, which currently shakes his bell to
trudge along the road. Since the horse can’t speak his mind, the narrator chooses
to. For him, the animal is awaiting the hold-up to end and continue on his path
home.

the poet is bypassing the forest. Yet the intensity of the winter cold has rendered
the lake frozen. But he stubborn narrator seems to adore the immediate present
as opposed to imminent danger. The narrator is hinting at the immense darkness
awaiting him. In the woods, night-time can be extremely distressing for the weary
traveler miles away from home. The poet is torn between two choices yet again,
to head home or sink in the scenic view.

The concluding two verses of the poem are the clincher from the poet’s
perspective. It’s also the most celebrated two lines of English poetry. The initial
line ‘And miles to go before I sleep’ remains within the poetic parameters defined
in poetry genre. Then, the poet repeats the above line again, reinforcing for a
more internal message. In actuality, the poet is hinting at death which will come
eventually as he reaches the end of his years.

Main Theme of poem

The poem comprises the thoughts of an adult, why he stops and why he
wants to stay in the lap of nature, forgetting all his worldly affairs. The
traveler wants to take a moment to pause in the quiet woods to watch the
snow falling. He says he knows whose woods are these, but he is sure
the owner of the woods will not notice his presence because he is in the
village.

He is tempted to stay longer, but the pull of obligations and considerable

distance force him to leave the woods. As he says that he has to travel a
lot, it means he has to perform a lot of duties. Therefore, he puts his
wishes aside and starts his journey again. This poem is about the
boundaries and limits in which human beings pass their lives, and which
do not allow them to get derailed from their respective paths.
Analysis of Literary Devices in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Meter
This poem is written in iambic tetrameter, that is, almost all the
lines have eight syllables and follow the daDUM daDUM beat,
one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Rhyme Scheme
The rhyme scheme is aaba bbcb ccdc dddd. Rhyming words
are very important in this poem, as they contribute to the
duality of moving on vs. stopping, which is a major theme. 
Repetition
Repetition is used only in the poem's final two lines. While
repetition can serve any number of purposes in poetry, it is
often assumed that repeated lines are important and deserve
special consideration. Why does the narrator repeat the line,
"And miles to go before I sleep"? Is it simply to stress the
length of the night's remaining journey?
The poet probably repeated these lines so that the first
instance of the line should be taken more literally, while the
second instance should be interpreted more figuratively.
Rubaiyat Stanza Structure
The poem is composed of four stanzas (think of a stanza as a
group of lines, or a poetic paragraph), each of which consists
of four lines. Four-line stanzas in poetry are commonly
referred to as quatrains. Quatrains written in iambic tetrameter
(or pentameter) with a rhyme scheme of aaba are known as
Rubaiyat stanzas. While the first three quatrains in the poem
are Rubaiyat stanzas, the fourth and final is not.
Personification
In poetry, personification refers to applying human traits or
emotions to non-human objects or animals. In the third stanza,
in lines nine and ten, the narrator's horse is personified when it
shakes its harness bells to question why they have stopped.
Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers feel things through their five
senses. The poet has used the images for the sense of sights such as
woods, house, lake, and These images help readers see the woods a
source of solace and comfort to a lonely traveler.

When and How Was the Poem Written?

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" was penned
by Frost in 1922 at his home in Vermont. He said the idea for
the piece came to him "as if [he'd] had a hallucination" in the
early morning hours after an all-night writing session for his
longer-form poem, "New Hampshire." Upon viewing the
sunrise, Frost wrote "Stopping by Woods" in just "a few
minutes without strain."

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 farmhouse 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 sound’s 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.