Doom and Gloom: Robert Frost’s “Once by the Pacific” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Robert Frost’s exquisite descriptions of nature’s beauty and the splendor of the wilderness have become so greatly recognizable and appreciated in American society that critics and fans alike have championed Frost as one of the greatest and most representative poets in American history. However, during Frost’s eighty-fifth birthday party, critic Lionel Trilling shocked Frost’s admirers when he explained that he believed Frost to be a “terrifying” poet. And indeed, a selection of Frost’s poems can and should be described as dark and disturbing. “Once by the Pacific” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” are two examples of poems which effectively depict the darker side of Robert Frost’s poetry.

Robert Frost’s “Once by the Pacific” is a poem which uses the terrible specter of a furious storm carrying a potential for apocalyptic damage along the coast of the Pacific Ocean to maintain a dark, disturbing tone throughout the poem. Themes of gloom and danger begin in the very first line with an image of ocean water crashing about, causing “a misty din” to ring out along the dark ocean coast (1). The image of a violent cracking of the water against the coastline is audibly and visually haunting, and the chilling sensation it instills is reinforced in the next lines with a description of massive waves which “thought of doing something to the shore / That water never did to land before” (3-4). With just the first four lines, a potential for catastrophic destruction in the poem has been effectively and chillingly represented to readers.

And the disturbing nature of the poem increases as it moves along. Elements of proximity and claustrophobia are added with an image of “low and hairy” clouds surrounding the coast; the skies, too, become a threatening prospect to the area before the thrashing coast (5). With the local danger firmly established, the poem moves to a wider, more continental concern: “The shore was lucky in being backed by cliff, / The cliff in being backed by continent” (8-9). The concern is no longer for the coast-the storm appears so furious that the coast has not a chance of avoiding destruction-but for the cliffs behind it, for the continent behind it; the storm’s capability for destruction has become a worry of continental proportions, and the level of reader anxiety nears its apex.

The poem’s remaining lines prove ominous, but with a twist of warning. A night of “dark intent” is seen on the horizon, but “not only a night, an age” of darkness is almost ready to begin (10, 11). The poem suggests that darkness is to envelop the earth for an interminable amount of time, signaling that a terrifying brand of apocalypse has been set in motion. “Someone had better be prepared for rage,” line twelve reads, providing images of wrath and fury against the human race. And in the poem’s final lines, the reader is to understand that “more than ocean-water” will be broken before God’s declaration of “Put out the Light” would be spoken; there will be chaos and great destruction in the world before God decides to end existence.

Upon witnessing the poem’s sinister forecast of rage and destruction across continents, one would undoubtedly feel dominated by a sensation of horror emotionally as well as physically. Words and phrases such as “shattered,” “din,” “hairy,” “rage” and “dark intent” give the work a haunting diction which effectively mirrors the poem’s subject matter. And turning to “Once by the Pacific” after reading a selection of uplifting, lighter works from Frost may leave a reader baffled by the shift in theme, and stunned by their revelation. And though the poem at hand is not at all representative of Frost’s complete catalogue of poetry, it does work as a piece of undeniable proof which can be used to support Lionel Trilling’s statement that Frost is indeed a terrifying poet.

While “Once by the Pacific” is one of Frost’s most blatantly terrifying and chilling works of poetry, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” has a more subtle, less evident brand of darkness. The poem begins with the first stanza as a man and his horse have temporarily delayed their journey through deep, dark woods so they can enjoy the sight of the woods filling up with falling flakes of snow. Lines two and three work to portray the isolation of the man making his way through the woods, as the owner of the land lives “in the village” and “will not see me stopping here” (2, 3). An image of a man and horse completely alone atop a road alongside a stretch of woods gives readers a vision of a man surrounded by an eerie silence and vast remoteness; a slightly unsettling sight.

And furthering the peculiar beginning to the poem is the description of the horse’s thoughts in the second stanza. “My little horse must think it queer / To stop without a farmhouse near” the narrator explains, proving to readers that actions out of the ordinary have been taken in the man’s pausing of the voyage (5-6). Lines seven and eight add to the readers’ understanding of the setting of the poem as the narrator describes that he has stopped “Between the woods and frozen lake” on “The darkest evening of the year” (7, 8). And beginning the third stanza, the bewildered horse “gives his harness bells a shake / To ask if there is some mistake” why they have ceased to keep moving through the frozen terrain (9-10). The poem’s dark, beautiful scene nears completion in the minds of readers as the narrator describes himself and his horse settled along a remote road in freezing weather directly between a frozen lake and deep, dark woods which are filling up with snow. But with the image comes a more complete sense of darkness and a well-developed sense of the darkness and frigid temperature surrounding this man, leading readers (as well as the horse) to ask themselves why this man has abandoned his normal routine for a prolonged look at a frozen forest landscape?

The silence surrounding the man is beautifully described in lines eleven and twelve with “The only other sound’s the sweep / Of easy wind and downy flake” (11-12). Yet another brick in constructing the scene is given here, as readers can now imagine a calming scene which is only broken by a soft sweeping of the mass of snowflakes gliding across the air. And the scene is completed in line thirteen when the woods are described as “lovely, dark and deep” in the narrator’s longing for the beauty and majesty of the cool, dark woods. But finally, the narrator reminds himself of his obligations-“But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep”-and decides to return to his journey. The last stanza proves unique in that, in some readings, one could say that the man’s journey could be a metaphor for his life. The man would most likely freeze to death had he journeyed into the woods in such extreme cold, and the last lines, “And miles to go before I sleep” can easily be read as a man decided he would rather fulfill his obligations to life than drift away from existence peacefully in the woods. But even in looking at the poem from multiple perspectives, one thing is concrete: the poem is one of darkness and gloom and would not commonly be considered as one of an uplifting nature.

Like “Once by the Pacific,” the diction of the poem at hand is one of gloom and darkness. Words and phrases such as “queer,” “frozen,” “darkest,” “darkest evening of the year” and “dark and deep” work well in portraying the poem’s encompassing darkness and frosty tone and temperature. And though the poem’s dark, gloomy nature is more subtle and far less violent than that of “Once by the Pacific,” it is effective in portraying a calmer, more psychological gloominess and makes for a more picturesque and memorable poem.

Two Robert Frost poems which effectively depict the darker side of the poet’s catalogue are “Once by the Pacific” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Critic Lionel Trilling’s comment that Frost is a “terrifying” poet has a basis of truth in the poems explored, but cannot be applied universally to the whole of Frost’s career. While coming to the realization that a number of Frost’s poems are eerie and dominated by themes of darkness and gloom can be a shocking experience for an unadvised enthusiast of poetry, it can also work to enrich a reader’s appreciation not only of Frost as a multi-dimensional poet but of the world of poetry as a whole.

Works Cited

Frost, Robert. “Once by the Pacific.” Modern American Poets: Their Voices and Visions. Ed.

Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. 256.

—. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Modern American Poets: Their Voices and

Visions. Ed. Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. 57.