Deconstruction of a Poem

Nichole Currier

Robin DeRosa

Critical Theory

27 October 2015

Deconstruction of a Poem

            Finding the true meaning of a poem has been the goal of many literary scholars for many years. Analyzing lines and metaphors behind the lines of famous poems has often given these researchers the means they needed to conclude with a single, sound meaning for their text. However, this brings into question what happens when there is no such thing as a single, sound meaning. According to Jim Powell in his essay about Derrida, Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences, “everything is provisional; you can’t make positive/definitive statements.” Powell then goes on to discuss how, to derive any meaning from literature, one must make definitive statements regardless, while still remembering that “nothing is stable, that meaning is always contingent and ambiguous.” Even if one meaning is found for a piece of literature, one must keep in mind that this is not the only meaning that can be taken from the work. Meaning will always be unclear, making it impossible to conclude a single meaning for any text.

          When looking at a poem such as Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, one can obtain a meaning of how the woods represent the lure of death, while civilization represents the need to continue living. Frost writes in one line how the owner of the woods “will not see [him] stopping here, to watch his woods fill up with snow.” When seasons are brought into play, winter is often used as a representation for death as it is the time of year when plants begin to fade and animals disappear for hibernation. By placing the setting of this poem to be in the winter, Frost is already giving the allusion of something ominous amidst the peaceful scene of the woods. Frost continues on in his second stanza to show his reader how this happens to be “the darkest evening of the year.” Again, this gives the reader a sense of foreboding and menace that may be lying in the undertones of this poem. In the third stanza, the narrator of the poem notes how his horse gives signs of wanting to leave, despite the beautiful scene of snow falling and collecting in the depths of the woods. Frost tells in the last stanza of his poem how, though “the woods are lovely, dark and deep,” the narrator has “promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.” Though the woods are described as lovely, one must consider how the narrator’s staying to admire them for too long could result in his ultimate demise. With snow falling, the traveler is in the potential situation of being buried by the sight he finds so intriguing. Even the narrator himself seems to consider this fact as he reminds himself that he cannot stay to admire the woods any longer, that he has “miles to go before I sleep.” The narrator’s time for death, his time to enter the woods, has not come yet and, because of this, he must keep moving.

          This is just one interpretation of Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. However, one must then consider what happens when the poem is interpreted a different way. Many aspects of the poem can be seen as a representation for just the opposite of the first analysis. Instead of representing death, it can be argued that this poem represents life and the importance of life. In his first stanza, when discussing the owner of the woods, Frost mentions how the owner’s “house is in the village though.” Village can be seen as a representation for life in itself, as it is the embodiment of people living and coinciding together peacefully. Villages are often filled with noise, laughter, companionship, young and old, male and female, and all the other aspects of human life. In the second stanza, Frost notes how the “little horse must think it queer to stop without a farmhouse near.” Even the animal in the poem shows an acknowledgment of moving on until civilization is met, of not stopping in a desolate place when life is so close. The insistent of this horse continues into the third stanza, when Frost shows how the horse “gives his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake.” Though his owner is taken with the scene of the woods, the horse continues to push him towards their destination and the other people who await there. In the last stanza, the narrator himself comes to this same realization as he remember that he has “promises to keep.” While it is not specified what exactly these promises are, they give reason for the narrator to keep moving towards the village as opposed to staying in the woods any longer. One can assume that the narrator’s promise has been given, perhaps, to someone else residing in the village, another person that the poem does not mention. Regardless of who he is referring to, this promise is what gives the narrator reason to continue striving for life and continuing to travel towards it.

          By looking at these two meanings, one can see how easy it is to derive a complete opposite interpretation from a single poem. Going beyond this, it shows how any meaning can be taken from the single poem, the possibilities are endless. As Powell states in his essay, “totalization is impossible: there might be too much to say, too many things to account for.” Coming up with a single, sound meaning for a piece of text is impossible because the meaning is continuously shifting and changing for each person who analyzes it. When taking absolutely everything that a poem contains into consideration, Powell explains how all “elements can’t be fixed and measured and accounted for.” There is too much to consider and evaluate, making one single meaning impossible to obtain.