Competitive Interpretations

Over at Rational Jenn my name came up in the comments in a discussion about Robert Frost's famous poem, Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.

One person believes the poem is about death. The other person (a friend of mine) doesn't see that.

I want to say something about that, but first I just want to pause and make an ooh and an ahh about how beautiful this poem is and how great it sounds.

That out of the way, I agree with my friend that the poem isn't obviously about death. It seems to me it's more about: a hard dedicated journey with beauty along the way.

I know that "sleep" is often a metaphor for death, and that "winter" is often a metaphor for dying, and ditto for "night," but I think you have to be careful about assuming that Frost is following that particular strategy. I'm sure you can make a case for it, and English teachers often do, but I think their students often resist this reading for a reason - namely that the poem makes sense without that interpretive overlay.

Frost, himself, for what it's worth, disclaimed the "temptation of death" reading.

Amazingly, Wikipedia reports that the poem was written in a few minutes, and that Frost claimed "It was as if I'd had a hallucination."

O Muse,
I promise that I will not refuse,
Such hallucinations as you choose
To send my way.

Let's see, how about "Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Day"?
Oops. Possible copyright violation. Not okay.