Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Sharon Olds’ “Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941”

Two poems that convey a lot about life are “Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941” by Sharon Olds, and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. Frost’s poem, on one level, is a simple description of an event that takes place in a rural area: a person stops his horse to watch snow falling in the woods. Therefore, the fact that it seems to be an unadorned narrative of a simple incident is meant to be deceptive. If a reader decides to just stop there, all he or she will get is a memorable experience. Frost pretends to be talking about one thing and all the while he is talking about many others. Therefore, on another level, the poem can be read as having a darker side that expresses the state of mind of the speaker. There is much more beneath the surface of this poem. Olds’ poem is about the dead not being able to be buried because the ground is frozen and the gravediggers too weak to dig. The bodies are just left on the ground with no other option. This poem is striking at first glance and one can immediately see what lies b

Obviously, both poems have much to say on life. In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, the man doesn’t say what errand he is on. The errand is left generalized to mean any errand in life and, therefore, probably life itself. At the end when he says he has “miles to go” the second time, it could mean that he still has miles to go on the road of life, and what he might mean by “before I sleep” the second time, is before I take my last rest. Olds’ poem shows the strong desire to live. The corpses would do anything to be alive. The gravediggers are in a struggle to live and resort to desperation, which must have been common in the winter during the war. This desperation is seen as “the coffin wood [is] used for fuel” and that they are willing to eat “bread made of glue and sawdust.” None of them would want to be “taken on a child’s sled to the cemetery.” They also know that if they survive the “icy winter, and the siege”, they will have their whole lives ahead of them, and that is worth living for.

The gravediggers are still in the world of the living, though, wanting to stay alive. The corpses are obviously in the world of the dead, wanting to be alive once more. Both worlds coexist in Olds’ poem. Frost’s poem also contains two worlds. One is the world of the woods, a world offering perfect quiet and solitude, which exists side by side with the realization that there is also another world of people and obligations. In the end, the call of responsibility proves stronger than the attraction of the woods, whose “dark and deep” appearance makes them “lovely”, which is the element that momentarily separated him from mankind. He realizes that unless he is going to stop there forever, it’s time to remember that he has a long way to go and that he best be getting there.

“Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941” also has large meanings. This poem is filled with as many horrors as “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is filled with beauty. The bodies are described as being tie

Some topics in this essay:
Snowy Evening”, War II, Frost Frost’s, Cemetery Winter, “stopping woods snowy, “stopping woods, woods snowy evening”, Woods Snowy, woods snowy, frost’s poem, olds’ poem, poem takes, snowy evening”, cemetery winter 1941”, winter 1941”, cemetery winter, “leningrad cemetery, “leningrad cemetery winter, Robert Frost’s, Sharon Olds’, Sharon Olds, desire live, beneath surface poem,