"I went t o the woods because I wished to live deliberately." - Henry David Thoreau
Frost’s most anthologized and beloved poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is deceptively simple thanks to the monosyllabic introduction and elemental nature of the prose. Throughout the poem Frost develops tension between society (the village) and nature (the woods), one representing social commitments and public expectations, the other tranquility and private will. For the narrator of the poem, there’s a mystical allure to the woods that interrupts his journey and seduces him into a state of contemplation. “The woods are lovely, dark and deep” is that final indulgence in the lucid dreamlike state before he capitulates to his promises and social obligations.
