Death is Not the End

This week, in my poetry class I particularly liked when we talked about Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." What I liked about this poem is that it is so relatable due to Frost's use of sound of sense, a literary device which uses everyday language and speech rhythms to make poetry. This style helps you feel like you could be the one speaking these words, not just reading them as a form of poetic language.

In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," Frost includes an underlying message of the temptations of death. In the poem, Frost is standing in the middle of the woods, and he realizes that people may think that it's weird especially "To stop without a farmhouse near / Between the woods and frozen lake /The darkest evening of the year." He even refers to his horse questioning his judgement about being in the woods, yet he acknowledges "The woods are lovely, dark and deep." The woods are Frost's metaphor for death. It is such a strong metaphor for death because they represent something far from society, and away from a person's problems. They almost represent sort of like a deep sleep that the author may want in order to get away.

The reason that Frost is even thinking about death, is because of his financial situation. He is stopping by these woods on Christmas eve, and he knows that because he has no money, he can't buy Christmas gifts for his children. He thinks about the humiliation that he will have to endure when he wakes up the next morning to his teary eyed children without presents. He thinks of the possibilities as to how he can get out of this. He dreads the next morning and the days that will follow. He comes down hard upon himself for not being able to provide for his family, and thinks he can't handle his emotions or problems anymore. But in the end Frost reminds himself " But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep." He realizes that even though it will be hard, he must go on for the good of his family and for the good of himself. He realizes that even though he cannot provide for his family now, he must continue to try to because they are counting on him.

When I heard the true meaning of this poem, it reminded me of a song written by Bob Dylan called "Death is Not the End." Dylan sings about all the bad things that can happen to a person in his or her life. He reaches out to all of those who may be thinking about death, and helps them realize that while death may be tempting, it is not the end. One section of the song that reminds me of Frost's poem is when Dylan says:

"When you're standing on the cross-roads

That you cannot comprehend

Just remember that death is not the end

And all your dreams have vanished

And you don't know what's up the bend

Just remember that death is not the end."

Frost, in his poem, is standing at the cross roads, cannot understand why he can't provide for his family, and he is uncertain about his future. He thinks of death as a means of escape from this hellish world, but Frost realizes that death is not the end because he must continue to try his best to provide for his family.

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is very relatable in my opinion because at a certain point in everyone's life things just get crazy, and things are hard to understand, and a person just wants to get away from it all through death. I'm not saying I've ever considered suicide, but I think that everyone always thinks about the possibility of escaping from their duties and obligations through death when the going gets tough. In the end I think we realize that death is the easy way out, but because we are strong, we commit to sticking it out, and persisting through things that are hard in our lives.