Comments | shadows: go iambic tetrameter, go

shadows

go iambic tetrameter, go

Feb 02, 2005 18:01

I really, really like this poem. I'm not usually a fan of rhyme, but this is just so effortless and the way it loops back into itself... yeah, so sue me, I'm an English major.

( Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening )

Comments 10

lecorbusier February 3 2005, 01:19:00 UTC

My dad recites that poem about 6 times a year. I really love it. Just reading it right now, I am really intrigued by the couplet (if that's what that's called): "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, / But I have promises to keep"... Is he implying that he'd rather stay in the woods and not deal with whatever it is he has to deal with? It's kind of sad or creepy in a way. But it is a really lovely poem and very atmospheric and you can just really feel the feeling of being there.

shadows February 3 2005, 02:09:52 UTC

Oh definitely, that "But..." is what makes the ending so interesting. I really like the way rhyme scheme works -- 3rd line in each stanza is the rhyme for the next, sort of like the character's thought process moving forward -- but in the final stanza it's like a hiccup. The character remembering he/she has "miles to go before [they] sleep" and convincing themselves to go on instead of staying in the beautiful forest...

Yeah, I think I might have mentioned that I like this poem :)

kws1 February 3 2005, 14:03:52 UTC

where is this character going? What is meant by "darkest evening" -- literal lack of light (winter solstice?), emotional darkness or depression, traveling to or from something awful?

death, no?

shadows February 3 2005, 19:49:43 UTC

It certainly could be, but that's what I really like about the poem, there are lots of things it could be. When reading it you get a distinct sense of the character traveling toward something -- with many miles to go and promises to keep before being able to stay in the lovely, deep, dark woods -- but it doesn't actually say what any of the promises are, give us any clues as to why that night is the darkest or why the speaker would rather stay. It's entirely subjective but without being wishy-washy or completely ambiguous.

Wahh cn_messiah February 4 2005, 18:33:05 UTC

Yuki ^.^
thats such a fluid poem
oh yeah Yuki is the japanese word for snow/ice
so yeah your the one who designed our banner? Pretty cool. Always looking for new ones *wink wink*

Re: Wahh shadows February 4 2005, 22:07:58 UTC

Maybe if I still worked in that same office ;)

Re: Wahh cn_messiah February 6 2005, 16:52:20 UTC

Aww your breakin my heart :-p
still you should come to anime

osurac February 5 2005, 19:55:53 UTC

that is one of my favorite poems... in a poetry class i took, the teacher explained that the rhyme scheme is symbolic of the horse pushing forward, and the author trying to remain still in the woods. lines 1, 2, and 4 of each stanza are the author standing still, and line 3 is the horse trying to push forward. and the reason why the last stanza rhymes with line 3 of the other ones is cause the horse "won" and they are moving forward.

seems like a bit of a stretch to me, but then again poetry teachers always seem to look for meaning in the smallest things.

shadows February 5 2005, 22:49:29 UTC

ooh, I hadn't thought of it as the horse pushing... I attributed it to the speaker's inner conflict not an external prompt (the horse). But yeah, that's exactly why I like the rhyme in this poem -- it does something that seems to fit with what the poem's saying.

Long time no hello -- hello! :)

osurac February 5 2005, 22:56:41 UTC

hello:)

i like the idea of it being an internal conflict much more.