Writing Journal Prompt 4

The poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is an interesting piece. I feel it is about a man on his way home from a very long journey. While on his way he sees a forest that is a shortcut to his home. He knows that this particular path is very dangerous and that he should not enter the forest. It is well known to the people in this area that the one who claims that forest is a dangerous being and could very well kill them if he is a caught. But he thinks about if its the best decision to venture through this forest to see his family off to bed before they rest.

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The man decides he will take the risk so that he can get home sooner. As he turns into the forest even his horse reacts with fear. This to me, makes me feel like its an unearthly entity of evil to have even the animals scared to the bone. Animals in a way can sense evil intent / emotion and are very afraid of such things. I think that is a huge indicator of just how evil this person truly is and does a great job of explaining the level of threat this unknown person is. This causes me to wonder, just what was the entity that controlled the forest? How cruel could he have been to scare, even the horse? How did the forest come to belong to this entity? It is quite an interesting poem, but sadly it is very short. There is not much to say other than speculation about our opinions on this scenario.

In another poem “The Daffodils” we have a lot of imagery going on. If I were to close my eyes while this poem is read to me I think I could envision the scenery where this poem takes place. It is about a man walking along a path until he sees a field full of daffodils as far as the eye can see. He is amazed by the beautiful of these flowers and compares the quantity of them to the stars in the sky. Behind this wonderful scene is a lake with moonlight reflecting on the water and a cool breeze. It gives off the vibes of a very relaxing environment where you can take your mind off terrible times and forget the whole day. He waits for the wind to blow to make the flowers appear as though they are dancing. This image he treasures deeply and whenever he is frustrated he thinks of his more peaceful times in the meadow and he is once again with peace.

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I think it is absolutely beautiful that he could find such a scene in nature and had the opportunity to enjoy it. And now he writes about this to tell his viewers to find something in their own life that gives them this feeling of peace and think of it when they have frustrating situations. I almost feel as though the author is trying to teach the reader methods of tranquility and peace. Definitely an interesting poem, with lots of imagery with the detail to recreating the scene.

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