Further Analysis Line By Line
Lines 1 - 4
Starting off a poem with a possessive pronoun is a brave and unusual thing to do but Frost manages to make it work , immediately grabbing the reader's attention. It's as if the speaker is sitting close by, thinking out loud, perhaps whispering .
But this initial thought isn't crystal clear, the speaker only thinks he knows who owns the wood - the first uncertainty is introduced - and he is making this statement to reassure himself as he comes to a stop, breaking his journey.
There is a gentle, slightly mysterious atmosphere created by the second, third and fourth lines, all suggesting that the owner of the woods lives elsewhere, is separate and won't see this visual 'trespasser' near the woods.
Lines 5 - 8
The second stanza concentrates on the horse's reaction to the rider stopping. Enjambment, when one line runs into another without a loss of sense, is employed throughout. In effect, this is one long sentence, the syntax unbroken by punctuation.
Again the tetrameter reassures and lulls the reader into a false sense of security - the language is simple yet the meaning can be taken two ways. Queer is a word that means odd or strange, and the implication is that this person doesn't ordinarily stop to admire the view; he only stops at farmhouses, to visit, to feed and water the horse?
Why stop tonight of all nights? It's December 21st, winter solstice, longest night of the year, midwinter. Or is that word darkest misleading the reader? It is certainly winter, we know from the snow and cold, but darkest could just mean that, deep into the night, dark as ever.
Here sits the rider on his horse in what appears to be inhospitable countryside, staying too long, thinking too much? And all the long vowels tend to reinforce the lingering doubts of the horse.
Lines 9 - 12
The horse is uncertain, it shakes the bells on the harness, reminding the rider that this whole business - stopping by the woods - is a tad disturbing. This isn't what they normally do. This is unfamiliar territory.
It takes a creature like a horse, symbol of intuition, noble grace and sacrifice, to focus the rider's mind on reality. They ought to be moving ahead; there's something about the way this person is fixed on the woods that worries the horse, apart from the cold and dark.
There is no logical or direct rational answer given to the horse, there is just the speaker's observation beautifully rendered in lines eleven and twelve, where alliteration and assonance join together in a kind of gentle sound dance.
Lines 13 - 16
The final quatrain has the speaker again reaffirming the peace and haunting beauty of the snowy woods. On another night perhaps he would have dismounted and gone into the trees, never to return? The lure of idyllic nature, the distraction from the everyday, is a strong theme; how tempting just to withdraw into the deep silence of the woods and leave the responsibilities of work and stress behind?
But the speaker, the rider, the contemplative man on the horse, the would-be suicide, is already committed to his ongoing life. Loyalties forbid him to enter the dreamworld, as much as he would love to chuck it all in and melt into the snowy scene, he can't Ever.
The last repeated lines confirm the reality of his situation. It will be a long time before he disengages with the conscious world.
HOPE IT HELPS YOU.
