the reader’s mind to realize that Frost’s work can represent differences in a person’s state of mind. Some other poets like to stick to one feeling and write only on it, but Frost’s poems range from misery to complete happiness, all depending on the speaker’s state of mind. “Desert Places” and “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” are good poems to compare. Both of these poems have the same wintry forest setting but have completely different tones and feelings.“Desert Places” has a person traveling through the countryside on a beautiful winter evening. A complete feeling of loneliness surrounds the speaker. “A blanker whiteness of benighted snow/with no expression, nothing to express”. The whiteness symbolizes open and empty spaces. In this person’s eyes, the snow is a white blanket that covers up everything living. The blankness represents the speaker’s feeling of loneliness and emptiness. He feels as if he does not belong or fit in anywhere in society. All the wintry deadness surrounds him, just as his lonely thoughts surround his mind. I believe the speaker is somewhat jealous of the woods. “ The woods around it have it, it is theirs”. The woods symbolize society, whereas everything in the woods is together and the speaker is the outcast not feeling he belongs in the woods. Later in the poem, the speaker starts to realize that the wintry place has become his life. He has let depression and loneliness take over his entire life, like the snow covering all living things. In the speaker’s mind the snow has also covered him and his life. This poem symbolizes the misery of loneliness.On the other hand “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy evening” has a different tone. The setting remains the same as “Desert Places” which is a cold wintry night in the woods. However, in this poem the tone is ...
