Mayor's Message: A Poem full of Symbolism | City of Darien
Mayor's Message: A Poem full of Symbolism | City of Darien
As many of you might remember from a Mayor’s Message shared from last year, Robert Frost is my favorite poet; I often find significant meaning in his work, and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” is one that is full of symbolism. I want to share it with you this week, and while I will offer a brief synopsis of this poem, I encourage you to read it and see if you can find any meaning for it in your life. It may also simply be something you would like to share with a friend.
There are many possible symbols in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” The central one is that of the speaker’s journey, which may symbolize travel through life, while the woods themselves represent mystery and danger but also peace and distraction from the travails ahead.
One could read this poem completely literally as the story of a man stopping in a quiet wood, with his horse, to appreciate the beauty of the snowy evening, and that in itself can serve as a beautiful image to the reader. However, it could also be read as replete with symbolism. The speaker can be seen as a man on a journey—much as we are all on a journey through life. While he has “promises to keep” or things he needs to do, he finds the need to pause in the snowy wood, which is “lovely, dark and deep.” Darkness often represents negative things, but here the speaker longs for it. Possibly this is because darkness allows a moment’s respite, an opportunity for us or him to rest from our toils and sleep.
It is clear that this individual wants to rest; he seems to be very tired. This may symbolize weariness with the daily grind of his life and a yearning to wander off the assigned path and into a quiet and mysterious other world where he can rest. He cannot let the woods distract him from his final goal, but he tells himself that he will be able to rest once he has fulfilled his promises.
If you have a chance, please let me know how you interpreted this quote and this piece of poetry, does it have any significance in your life?
Original source can be found here.
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