looming

StoppingbyWoodsonaSnowyEvening[雪夜林邊小駐]

WhowoodstheareIthinkIknow,我知道林子的主人是誰，

Hishouisinthevillagethough.雖村落是他所居之地。

Hewillnotemestoppinghere,他不會看到我停留于此，

Towatchhiswoodsfillupwithsnow.凝視他的林子雪花紛飛。

Mylittlehormustthinkitqueer,我的小馬一定以我為怪，

Tostopwithoutafarmhounear,近無房舍，為何停佇。

Betweenthewoodsandfrozenlake,況只有林子與冰湖，

Thedarkesteveningoftheyear.和一年中最黑之夜。

Hegiveshisharnessbellsashake,他輕搖鈴具

Toaskifthereissomemistake.詢問有錯與否。

Theonlyothersound'sthesweep,唯一的回復來自，

Ofeasywindanddownyflake.軟雪和清風。

Thewoodsarelovely,darkanddeep.林子很美——昏暗而幽深，

ButIhavepromistokeep,但我已有約定。

AndmilestogobeforeIsleep.沉醉前還有一段路要走

AndmilestogobeforeIsleep沉醉前還有一段路要走。

1

Summary:

Onthesurface,akerisstoppingbysomewoodsonasnowy

etakesinthelovelysceneinnear-silence,istemptedtostaylonger,but

acknowledgesthepullofobligationsandtheconsiderabledistanceyettobetraveledbeforeheor

shecanrestforthenight.

Form:

Thepoemconsistsoffour(almost)neisiambic,withfour

stresdsyllables:

Withinthefourlinesofeachstanza,thefirst,cond,rdlinedoes

not,mple,inthethirdstanza,queer,near,and

yearallrhyme,butlakerhymeswithshake,mistake,andflakeinthefollowingstanza.

Thenotableexceptiontothispatterncomesinthefinalstanza,wherethethirdlinerhymeswith

theprevioustwoandisrepeatedasthefourthline.

Donotbefooledbythesimplewordsandtheeasinessoftherhymes;thisisaverydifficultform

toachieveinEnglishwithoutdebilitatingapoem'scontentwithforcedrhymes.

Commentary:

igstone,likeabodyofwater,like

astrongeconomy,howeveritwasforgeditemsthat,oncemade,

claimedthathewroteitinasinglenighttimesitting;sonehot,

sustainedburstistheonlywaytocastsuchacompleteobject,inwhichformandcontent,shape

andmeaning,emptedtoreadit,nodquietlyinrecognitionofits

splendorandmultivalentmeaning,yguides.

Likethewoodsitdescribes,thepoemislovelybutenticesuswithdarkdepths--ofinterpretation,

dsaloneandbeautiful,theaccountofamanstoppingbywoodsonasnowy

evening,butgivesusacome-hitherlookthatbegsustoloaditwithafullinventoryofpossible

est,wemakeapologies,wepointtothedangersofreadingpoetryinthisway,

butunlikethespeakerofthepoem,wecannotresist.

keastrongclaimtobethemostcelebrated

st"AndmilestogobeforeIsleep"stayswithinthe

uspect,aswehaveuptothis

point,thatthepoemimpliesmorethanitsaysoutright,butwecan'tinsistonit;thepoemhasgone

bysofast,mesthecond"AndmilestogobeforeI

sleep,"likeasoftyetpenetratinggong;nditmakes

is"Ahhh."Andwemustreadtheversagainandagainandoffertrenchantremarksandexplain

the"Ahhh"last"milestogo"nowemslikelife;the

last"sleep"nowemslikedeath.

Thebasicconflictinthepoem,resolvedinthelaststanza,isbetweenanattractiontowardthe

woodsreprent?Something

good?Somethingbad?Woodsaresometimesasymbolforwildness,madness,thepre-rational,the

esomeone'swoods,

someone'townerisinthevillageonthis,the

wherethedivisionemsto

lie,betweenthevillage(or"society,""civilization,""duty,""nsibility,""responsibility")andthe

woods(thatwhichisbeyondthebordersofthevillageandallitreprents).Ifthewoodsarenot

particularlywicked,theystillpossstheedoftheirrational;andtheyare,atnight,dark--with

allthevariedconnotationsofdarkness.

erestful,ductive,lovely,

dark,anddeep--likedeepsleep,llsindownyflakes,likeablankettolie

resttoolongwhilesnowfallscouldbetoloone'sway,tolothepath,

thispoemexpressadeathwish,consideredandthendiscarded?Dothewoodssingasiren'ssong?

wingonelftobelulledakintogivingup

thestruggleofprudenceandlf-prervation?Ordoesthepoemmerelydescribethetemptation

tositandwatchbeautywhileresponsibilitiesareforgotten--tosuccumbtoamoodforawhile?

Thewoodssitontheedgeofcivilization;onewayoranother,theydrawthespeakerawayfromit

(anditspromis,itsgoodn)."Society"wouldcondemnstoppinghereinthedark,inthe

akerascribessociety'sreproachtothehor,whichmayem,at

first,horisadomesticatedpartofthecivilizedorderofthings;itisthenearest

thingtosociety'ingthehorreprovethespeaker(evenif

onlyinthespeaker'simagination)helpshighlightveraluniquelyhumanfeaturesofthespeaker's

heregardforbeauty(oftenflyinginthefaceofpracticalconcernorthesurvival

instinct);anotheristheattractiontodanger,theunknown,thedarkmystery;andthethird--perhaps

relatedbutdistinct--isthepossibilityofthedeathwish,ofsuicide.

aloneisa

sufficientsiren;asufficientprotectionagainstherductionisanunwillingnesstogiveupon

e"AndmilestogobeforeIsleep"neednot

implyburdenalone;perhapstheridehomewillbelovely,,thelinecouldbereadas

referringtoFrost'scareerasapoet,andatthistimehehadplentyofgoodpoemsleftinhim.

2

ThispoemiswrittenbytheAmericanpoetRobertFrostwhoworksaremostlyconcernedwith

poem,veler,the

stoenjoyit,buthismindurgeshim

togoon,becauthereisstillalongwayaheadofhim,

poemisplaininwords,tisfullofsymbolicconstructs,itis

thought-provoking,andthereaderscangetgreatfunindevelopingthesubtext.

Inthefirststanza,

allknowthatthewoodsareusuallylinkedwithmyth,theunknownworld,andtheutmost

uessthat,inthispoem,thepoettakesthewoodsastheeternallife,thebliss,

dupwiththeroutineduties,

woodshappenstoprovideanidealplace.

Thenitcomestothesnowyevening.“Itisthedarkesteveningoftheyear.”Thesnowiscold

andtheeveningdark,conscious

wantshimtostop,buthis“littlehor”withtheinspiringbells,whichisactuallyasymbolof

vitality,econdstanza,thepoetus“frozenlake”

transferstheembodimentofdeathfromthebeautiful“woods”tothedeadly“frozenlake”is

becauthepointofviewhaschangedfromthepoettothelittlehor.

Inthethirdstanza,thelittlehorwonderswhythepoetstopswhenheshouldhavegoon.

Only“theeasywind”and“downyflake”maginthescene:the

“downyflake”cangettheidea:the

poet’sanswerisasslightanduncertainastheflakes,becauhehimlfdoesn’tknowwhyhe

stopssuddenlyinthewoods.

Towardtheend,thewoodsareattractive,he

mustmoveon,becauhehaspromitokeep.“Thepromi”couldbeanobligationoragoal.

Onecannotdiebeforefulfillingone’tus“sleep”toreprentdeath,justaswe

usuallydo.

Inthispoem,RobertFrostdiscusstherelationbetweenmortalobligationsandtheeternal

vesnoregretsafterhedies,aslongasonehasreachedhisgoal.

3

Inthepoem,“StoppingbyWoodsonaSnowyEvening,”thespeakerstopsbysomewoodson

akeristemptedtostaylonger,but

acknowledgesthathehasobligationsandaconsiderabledistancetotravelbeforehecanrest

akertalkswithatoneofsatisfaction,butattheendofthepoemshowsa

dofpoem,devotion,appearsinlinesfourteenandfifteen.

Thepoemoffersagreatdealofimagery,suchasdark,deepwoodsinlinethirteenthatare

beingfilledwithlargeamountsofsnowpouringfromtheskyinlinefour,andhouinasmall

village,againthesnowcomingdown,exceptthistimeontheroofthehou,,

afrozenlake,letitbebigorsmall,withtheskydarkeningfast,

thirdstanza,ahorisshownshakingthebellsonhisreigns,asiftocalltheattentionofthe

speaker,toinformhimthathemusthavemadeamistake.

nehasiambic

thefourlinesofeachstanza,thefirst,cond,

thirdlinedoesnot,meschemeisas

follows:a,a,b,a;b,b,c,mple,inthecondstanza,linesfivethrougheight,queer,

near,andyearallrhyme,butlakerhymeswithshake,mistake,andflakeinthefollowing

yexceptionisthelaststanzainwhichthethirdlinerhymeswiththeprevious

twolinesandisrepeatedasthefourthline,thereforetherhymescheme:d,d,d,d.

Thispoemspeaksofwantingtoenjoythepleasuresoflife,suchaswatchingwoodsfillupwith

snow,butthenitconcludeswiththespeakeracknowledgingthathehasworktodo,andone

memstobestatingthatitisallrightto

enjoythespecialmomentsinlife,butifonemakesapromi,heshouldnotcompromiit

withthethingsheenjoys,eveniftheactivitiesembetterthanworking.

4

RobertFrost'sStoppingbyWoodsonaSnowyEveningisbyfaroneofmyfavoriteworksof

sive,unhurriedmoodofthepoemisreflectedwithacalmrichimagery

plewordsandrhymeschemeofthepoemgiveitan

easyflow,spectofthepoembuildsoffthe

ststanzaofthepoemisrather

ionsthewoodsandimpliesthattheyare

showsthe

easypacethatspeakeristaking,

thinkaboutthem,thewordsofthefirststanzaarenotovertlysomber,theydohowever

tond

stanzaprovidesamoreindepthviewoftheimagerysketchedoutinthefirst;italsoprovidesa

sttwolinesofthisstanzafirmlyplacethereaderrather

faroutinfactthathishorispuzzled

tlinegivesabetterimageofthesceneBetweenthewoodsandfrozen

lake;tlinethenprovidesthatitisnight

andverydark,thatFrostintendedtomakethatlinerather

ambiguousThedarkesteveningoftheyear,Itcaneitherbetakenliterallyasthemostlightless

night,thatitisacombinationof

thetwo,adarkmoonlesswinternightinwhichthespeakerexperiencessomeformof

rdstanzaofthepoembringsthestrangenessofthesituation

yotherlivingbeinginthiscoldlonelylandscape,thespeaker'shortakes

fromtheinquisitiveharnessbells

providecontrasttothequietofthescene,

descriptionsofthesoundsprovidealittleinsighttothespeaker'

stillthathecanherethesoftfallofthedownyflakeandhearthemovementoftheeasywind.

alstanzaofthe

poembringsallthentimentsofthepoemtogether,anintenloveandaweofnature,a

neveren

darkanddeepwoodsemtoreflectthespeaker,hisdarkemotionanddepthofcharacter.

TherestillnessalsocontrastswiththeneedoftherepeatedclosinglinesAndmilestogobefore

Isleep/inallinesreprenttheproblemthathasplagued

methingthatis

undefinedthatdoesnotdemandarushtodealwith,butisimportantenoughtodemand

masawhole,silyrelate

tothepoem,eless

isismyfavoritepoem,

Ididn'thavetoopenthebooktorememberit,ndsmeofthe

nthewoodsandbeforeIdrove;Ioften

walkedthroughthemasashortcuttovisitfriends,soIhavemanymemoriesofstoppingbya

neighborswoodonaneasywalkhome,andwatchingthesnowslowlyfall.