Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

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Literary Devices

Rhyme

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Literary Devices Rhyme

For “Stopping by Woods,” Frost used an interlocking rhyme pattern known as a chain rhyme. A chain rhyme works by carrying one rhyme over from one stanza to another, effectively linking them. Frost uses a chain rhyme to link his quatrains in the following manner: AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD. The only stanza that doesn’t feature the chain-rhyme scheme is the final stanza, which consists entirely of D rhymes. Chain rhyme is common in Persian poetry, and Frost may well have been inspired by the Persian rubā’iyāt form, which entails similarly interlocking quatrains. Regardless of his inspiration, it’s worth noting the unique challenge posed by such a rigorous rhyme scheme. Particularly in English, where rhymes come with relatively less ease than they do in other languages, maintaining this strict scheme could easily sound strained. But Frost has managed the make the rhymes sound easy and unforced. Note how nearly all the rhymes in the poem are formed with common monosyllabic words. The one exception is the word “mistake” (line 10), which Frost otherwise rhymes with “lake,” “shake,” and “flake” (lines 7, 9, and 12). The effortless quality of these rhymes matches the easy flow of the poem’s meter and contributes to an overall sense of calm.