Imagery in Winter Poems

Literature > American
Literature > English
Literature > Poetry

A comparison of wintry images of negativity and despair in three poems: ""Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost, ""Absent place--An April Day" by Emily Dickinson, and "Blow, blow thou Winter Wind" by William Shakespeare.

1,112 words () | 3 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the poetic images of winter in the works of Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and William Shakespeare. The paper explains that by understanding the often barren and silent image of winter in the poems by these authors, one can understand how they are written within the atmosphere of negativity and despair. The paper looks at how focusing on the specific symbolic and metaphoric use of winter as a negative and despairing environment, these authors create powerful images that are physical and mental in their descriptions of various human behaviors and life events. The paper further demonstrates that the overall scope of winter does not provide an overall positive image of coldness and despair, but illuminates the various problems that human beings must endure at different points in their lives.

From the Paper:

"This manner of behavior shows that Frost is yet again, seeking to portray a lone traveler that is unsure of his destination and is found wandering on another person's property. The man driving his horses clearly sees the grim silence of winter and the 'downy flakes', which represent his own sense of isolation and poor navigation off the main road. Also, this negativity is part of Frost's image of winter as a despairing haven for travelers that lose their way in life. This also occurs in a previous stanza that dictates the solace of the wintry wood as a poetic image of despair."

Sample of Sources Used:

Dickinson, Emily. "Absent place--An April Day." Poetryx.com. 14 March, 2007. < http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/2032/>
Frost, Robert. "Stopping by Woods On a Snowy Evening." 1999. Rice University. 15 March. 2005. <http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/155.html>
Shakespeare, William. "Blow, blow thou winter wind." 2006. Bartelby.com. 14 March, 2007. <http://www.bartleby.com/106/42.html>