Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Study Guide

Literary Devices

Setting

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Literary Devices Setting

The title says it all: the setting of Frost’s poem is a wooded area the speaker stops to consider on a snowy evening. Although the specific location isn’t clear, it’s reasonable to assume that the woods referenced in the poem are somewhere in New England. Not only did Frost write much of his poetry about this region, but this particular poem also first appeared in a collection titled New Hampshire. However, more important than the literal setting are the figurative associations the setting evokes. The woods referenced in the title lie on the outskirts of an unnamed village, which the speaker mentions when he reflects that the woods’ owner lives in the village. This observation establishes an opposition between the village and the woods. For its part, the village symbolically conjures a broad array of ideas that are typically associated with organized settlements, including law, society, economy, and responsibility. The woods, by contrast, stand outside these constructs of modern life. In fact, the woods stand apart from all things human. It’s precisely this apartness that attracts the speaker, luring them away from the everyday realities of civilized life.

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