Stylistic Analysis on Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

金晶

Ⅰ. Introduction

According to Mick Shot， stylistics， as a subject spanning the borders of literature and linguistics， is an approach to the analysis of （literary） texts using linguistic description. By analyzing the language of texts， it tries to explain how that language creates meaning， style and effect. In order to get an explicit explanation， great importance should be attached to the deviations from linguistic norms—the foregrounded parts of the text. The effect brought by foregrounded parts is called foregrounding which is usually achieved by deviation and parallelism.

Based on the brief introduction of stylistics， Robert Frosts Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening will be taken as an example to show how we get the explicit interpretation and to make us more consciously aware of the process by stylistic analysis. The poem is as following.

Whose woods these are I think I know，（a）

His house is in the village though.（a）

He will not see me stopping here，（b）

To watch his woods fill up with snow.（a）

My little horse must think it queer，（b）

To stop without a farmhouse near，（b）

Between the woods and frozen lake，（c）

The darkest evening of the year.（b）

He hives his harness bells a shake，（c）

To ask if there is some mistake.（c）

The only other sound's the sweep，（d）

Of easy wind and downy flake.（c）

The woods are lovely， dark and deep.（d）

But I have promises to keep，（d）

And miles to go before I sleep.（d）

And miles to go before I sleep.（d）

Ⅱ. Stylistic Analysis

2.1 Analysis of Sound and Rhythm

As labeled at the end of each line， the rhyme scheme of the poem is aaba， bbcb， ccdc， dddd， constituting phonemic parallelism. The well organized rhyme scheme strengthens the readability of the poem. Whats more， the rhythm of the poem is generally iambic tetrameter， with only one exception “To watch his woods fill up with snow”， which creates internal deviation. The rhythm makes the poem more readable. Variation occurs at “fill up” with “fill” stressed. Thus the verb phrase is highlighted to foreground the process of filling up.

Besides， in the first stanza， “whose woods” and “his house” involve the repetition of the same consonants. In addition to alliteration， both of them are constructed by possessive pronoun plus concrete noun， grammatical parallelism comes into being， which makes the two lines more closely. In the third stanza， the two noun phrases of the last line： “easy wind” and “downy flake” are both made of a disyllable adjective and a monosyllable noun， constituting rhythmic and grammatical parallelism. This parallelism binds wind and flake together as well as makes the picture of gentle wind and soft flake rise into view.

2.2 Grammatical Deviation

The first line of the poetry cannot be ignored for it deviates from grammatical norms. Through inversion， “I think I know” becomes marked from linguistic perspective. It is foregrounded to show I know that the woods do not belong to me， which coordinates with the theme of the poem.

Another point worthy to be mentioned is “to watch his woods fill up with snow”. It is known to us all that the verb “watch” can be followed by present participle and base form， with the former referring to ongoing actions and the latter the whole process. Frost chooses “fill up” indicates that he stops by the woods for quite a long time to witness the process of “filling up”.

2.3 Semantic Deviation

The second and third stanzas start to narrate from the little horses points of view. “my little horse must think it queer” and “to ask if there is some mistake”， we all know that horse can not think and speak， let alone to pose a question， therefore， personification is applied here. This semantic deviation makes the horse remind the poet and then foregrounds the theme： even though the woods are lovely， you cant indulge in it.

In the third stanza， there is an interesting collocation “easy wind”. We often say “easy question” or describe a person “easy going”. The use of “easy” here gives the wind the feature of human being， which foregrounds the mildness of the wind in the winter evening， corresponding to the “downy flake”. So its not difficult to understand why the poet lingers.

Ⅲ. Conclusion

Through analysis， we can see that deviation and parallelism can occur at any level of language. Thus it is wise to analyze the foregrounded parts at any level to figure out their meaning and effect.

Reference：

[1]Mick Shot.Exploring the Language of Poems，Plays and Prose[M].Addison Wesley Longman Limited 1996.

[2]祖利军，薛岩.近十年文体学研究综述[J].山东省农业管理干部学院学报，2009.