His horse in the story is a symbol of work and responsibility. It wants to reach their final destination as it felt strange that they were stopping “without a farmhouse near”. This implies that the woods are only a resting place and the narrator is taking a break before moving back to his daily routines. The reader can relate to the joy the narrator is feeling as in everyday life, we all feel happy to take a break from school or work.
“Between the woods and frozen lake” generates a beautiful image of nature. The poet is trying to tell us that we all have responsibilities, but we must always take time off to enjoy nature, just like the narrator is doing. From the line “the darkest evening of the year”, you can tell it’s a dark night, but also that the narrator’s feelings are dark that night as well. This metaphor creates a direct contrast with the feeling he feels when he appreciates nature.
In the third stanza, the horse “gives his harness bells a shake”, urging the narrator to move on, reminding him that he has responsibilities. Here the horse signifies the disturbances that people have even when all around them is serene. We are always worried by something even if all around us is pure beauty. This idea is supported by the fact that the first two lines are juxtaposed with the last two. The ‘s’ and soft vowel sounds make the last two lines soothing and joyous. Even the reader feels pleased; they can almost feel the gentle wind and soft sounds.
The joy and pleasure is summarised in the last stanza when the narrator says “the woods are lovely, dark and deep.” The alliteration used here and the previous stanza in ‘downy’ creates a gentle atmosphere, where the only sounds are the deep ‘d’ sounds. The most important word here however is ‘lovely’. This suggests the warmth the narrator feels when he is thinking about the woods. The joy and pleasure is further accented when we reach the next line. The narrator knows that he has goals in life that he has to achieve, yet he stills stops to see the woods. The second line provides a contrast with the first line and really focuses on the point that the woods bring out joy in the narrator. In the last two lines, the repetition causes the pace to slow down and the long vowel sounds add to that effect. ‘Sleep’ here could be a metaphor for death, therefore the narrator might be saying that he still has miles to go on the journey of life and death is the only way that he won’t have any responsibilities and that is really where joy lies.
From his use of contrast and symbols, Frost has made this protest poem simple and layered with a lot of messages about life. Not only did he produce a sense of joy and pleasure in the narrator and the readers, he also made us think about all the ‘promises’ we have in life, which we must fulfil before we die.
