In the poems “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Frost uses symbolism, imagery, and tone to utilize nature as a channel to indicate a much larger concern. Frost shows symbolization imagery and tone in such a beautiful in both poems introduced to you, some parts sticking out more than others. In Frost’s work, he uses nature as a character rather than a simple background.
In “The Road Not Taken,” Frost uses symbolism to refer to the road less traveled. Frost’s poem tells the story of him walking in the woods, when he stumbles upon two roads, unsure of which to take. One road, grown high and full of green grass, likely the road less travelled. The other road, walked upon and smushed down to none. With this, he took the road less traveled, claiming it “[had] made all the difference.” (line 20) Many people in life, when having to make a choice, choose the choice others would choose, in hopes of it being easier; regardless if the choice not usually chosen could change their life for the better.
As for his poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Frost uses vivid imagery all through his poem. Contrary to what one may perceive as imagery, imagery is not just sight, but rather all five senses (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting). The poem mentioned here, contains multiple examples of imagery. From the “woods [filled] up with snow,” to the “lovely, dark and deep” woods, the reader can feel as if they are the one on the horse in the middle of the woods.(lines 4 and 13)
Seeing, isn’t the only thing, though. One can hear things too, like the harness bells after they’ve been given a shake, or “the sweep of easy wind and downy flake.” The wording makes it easy for one to feel the whistling wind hitting them. When reading this writing, the reader may even grab a jacket.
In both of the poems mentioned above, the tones are polar opposite. While both poems include the contemplation of nature, the tones are completely different. In “Stopping by Woods on A Snowy Evening,” Frost sets the tone as calm and tranquil: whilst in “The Road Not Taken” the tone is contemplative and reflective. He’s got a way of writing to make the reader feel the tone themselves, and not as if they are just reading it.
Frost is able to turn some of the most simple sounding things, into the most beautiful things. No one would have ever thought of things the way he does. He took the path less traveled in “The Road Not Taken” because it was bright and green, as it gave him a feeling of comfort rather than the road more commonly traveled. He works well with words and makes it easy for readers to be more intrigued in his poems. His sole purpose in writing is not to make nature the background, but the character, showing personification and figurative language so well.