Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening analysis

Silently if, out of not knowable is a 1963 poem by E. E. Cummings. The poem utilizes aspects of nature such as darkness, light and the heavenly bodies to emphasize the persona’s expression of love for another individual. The analysis of the two poets works increases personal understanding through comparison through attempting to identify the similarities in theme and use of stylistic devices. However, Frost shifts the mood in the fourth stanza to a gloomy mood using symbolism in the final lines as the persona compares death to sleep repeating the phrase twice to ensure the reader identifies the temptation to die which is hindered by the numerous obligations the persona is to fulfill (Gale n. p. Frost calls the woods the persona stops to admire “dark and deep” (Frost 13).

Cummings also utilizes a poem beginning with a calm mood as the persona sets the scene with the second line explaining how silently, “night’s utmost nothing, wanders a little” (Cummings 2). Cummings then shifts to a romantic mood to explain the subject of the process of falling in love felt by the persona with the persona describing how actions such as kisses cause the persona to losing and finding a new self in the lover. The third stanza, shortened by one line continues with the persona utilizing symbolism to emphasize further romantic immersion to full expression of their feelings towards the other individual in the also shortened final stanza. The structures of the two works allow the reader to navigate through each verse understanding the subject and the flow of setting of the poem.

The sound and rhythm in both poems differ. Frost’s poem utilizes alternate rhyme with the rhyme in each stanza following AABA scheme. Cumming’s poem also uses alternate rhyme in the first two stanzas with ABBA scheme with the final two stanzas lacking rhyme scheme. The romantic mood, symbolism, imagery, and language in Cummings poem reveal the romantic exploit of the persona and their reaction in the process. The calm and gloom mood, rhyme structure, personification, symbolism, and imagery reveal the personas journey through life where though the persona contemplates death, it is dismissed as an option because of their numerous responsibilities. Such knowledge assists an individual to craft real-life emotions and experiences in words structured around a common theme and structure.