Connotation + DenotationAlthough there are other examples of connotation within Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, the most important example is found in the third and fourth lines of the last stanza. The word sleep has both connotative and denotative meanings in the poem. Literally the word sleep is defined as "to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension,complete or partial, of consciousness; cease being awake" (Dictionary.com). However this is not the only meaning behind the word. Connotatively, the word sleep means death and the end to this man's life in the poem, which entirely changes the meaning of the poem. Until those last two lines are stressed and repeated, the reader might not fully grasp the meaning of the poem. But when they are implemented one is able to explore and discover the deeper meanings behind the words and not look at the poem as only denotative, but as connotative.
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Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. |