FREE ESSAY ON ROBERT FROST

ROBERT FROST

Robert Frost takes our imaginations to a journey through wintertime with his two poems
Desert Places and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Frost comes from a New England
background and these two poems reflect the beautiful scenery that is present in that part
of the country. Even though these poems both have winter settings they contain very
different tones. One has a feeling of depressing loneliness and the other a feeling of
welcome solitude. They show how the same setting can have totally different impacts on a
person depending on their mindset at the time. These poems are both made up of simple
stanzas and diction but they are not simple poems. In the poem Desert Places the speaker
is a man who is traveling through the countryside on a beautiful winter evening. He is
completely surrounded with feelings of loneliness. The speaker views a snow covered field
as a deserted place. A blanker whiteness of benighted snow/ With no expression, nothing
to express. Whiteness and blankness are two key ideas in this poem. The white symbolizes
open and empty spaces. The snow is a white blanket that covers up everything living. The
blankness symbolizes the emptiness that the speaker feels. To him there is nothing else
around except for the unfeeling snow and his lonely thoughts. The speaker in this poem is
jealous of the woods. The woods around it have it - it is theirs. The woods symbolizes
people and society. They have something that belongs to them, something to feel a part
of. The woods has its place in nature and it is also a part of a bigger picture. The
speaker is so alone inside that he feels that he is not a part of anything. Nature has a
way of bringing all of her parts together to act as one. Even the animals are a part of
this wintery scene. All animals are smothered in their lairs,/ I am too absent-spirited
to count. The snow throws its blanket of whiteness over everything and to him it is a
feeling of numbness. The loneliness includes me unawares. The speaker has lost his
enthusiasm for life. He can not express his feelings easily because of this feeling of
numbness. The speaker is also in denial about feeling alone. He is at a stage where he
just does not care about too much and he is feeling a bit paranoid. They cannot scare me
with their empty space. He is saying who cares how I feel, I do not need anyone else. I
have in me so much nearer home/ To scare myself with my own desert places. The speaker
was starting to realize that he had shut himself off to the world. He recognized that
this winter place was like his life. He had let depression and loneliness creep into his
life and totally take over like the snow had crept up on the plain and silently covered
it. If he continues to let these feelings run his life, eventually everything would be
snuffed out much like the snow does to nature. 
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is a much happier and more upbeat poem than Desert
Places. This poem is about stopping to enjoy life or as the cliche goes, stopping to
smell the roses. But I have promises to keep,/ and miles to go before I sleep. The
speaker in this poem was a very busy man who always had obligations to fulfill and places
to go. A feeling of regret is present. The man would like to stay and enjoy this private
nature scene longer but he knows that he has other things to do. Again, Frost gives us a
beautiful nature scene but this time we enjoy welcome solitude. The woods are lovely,
dark and deep. This poem expresses the joy of nature. The speaker seems concerned about
what the rest of society would think about him just stopping in the middle of nowhere for
no apparent reason. His horse represents society. My little horse must think it queer/ To
stop without a farmhouse near. He admits that just stopping does seem odd. He is also
somewhat concerned about the man who owns the woods. The man almost feels guilty for
looking so lovingly at this other man's woods. He will not see me stopping here/ To watch
his woods fill up with snow. I think that the speakers life may be a little better off
since he stopped to take a deep breath and enjoy all that really matters, the simple
things. 
Stopping by Woods an a Snowy Evening is the opposite of Desert Places. The settings were
exactly the same; calm, dark wintry evenings, but they express totally different
feelings. Desert Places is a very depressing poem with a dark tone. The other is very
happy and it makes you wish that winter was already here. These two poems are very
different but they are also the same in some ways. They show two extremes of the same
emotion. Being alone can be positive or negative it just depends on the state of the
mind. Loneliness can be very depressing or it can be a time to collect your thoughts
without the pressures of the outside world crashing down. Winter is the perfect season to
reflect upon when expressing solitude. Winter can make everything seem dead. It can be a
very depressing time of year. Snow covers everything living and the cold seems to chill
to the very soul at times. Winter can also be very uplifting. It can wipe the slate clean
with its pureness and it can be a time of starting over. Snow's whiteness can, in a way,
blind you with its beauty and make you forget about your troubles. Winter for me is a
time of silent reflection. I could sit for hours and gaze at the blowing snow. Robert
Frost creates two winter scenes with different outcomes. The first, Desert Places is a
sad poem about loneliness and lost enthusiasm. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is a
rather uplifting poem about enjoying simple things in life. Frost seems to draw upon his
experiences from living in rural New England and converts those experiences into
beautiful poetry.