Stop and Smell the Roses
Robert Frost and William Shakespeare are both very different writers from vastly different time periods. Their individual writing topics also vary; Shakespeare’s writings focuses more on romance-oriented ideals, while Frost’s work highlights existential questions. However, Frost’s, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and Shakespeare’s, “This time of year thou mayst in me behold,” offer many similarities and differences when it comes to technical elements. Though times had changed considerably during the gap of the 1500s to the 1900s, usage of imagery and tone remains comparably present in these two poems about life as we know it. With beautiful but dark scenery and personalized perspectives on the eventual passage …show more content…
Additionally, he also talks about, “the twilight of such day as sunset fadeth in the west / which by and by black night doth take away / Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest” (ll. 6-8), which is indicative of the end of a day. Mentioning the night is crucial in this stanza, as death is normally characterized by darkness. Shakespeare makes allusions to the end of one’s life by using imagery of bare trees and the setting sun. Delving further into what this means, both of these occurrences are also uncontrollable by man. There is no way to stop the day from ending or the seasons from flowing. This is evidence that Shakespeare potentially felt helpless while he was entering his elder years. However, he ends the poem by stating in an uplifting couplet, “This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong / to love that well which thou must leave ere long” (ll. 13-14). He crafts the entire poem carefully, placing extreme emphasis on these two lines in specific by using indentations and a break in poetic structure. Taking into account the unpredictability of life, and the unpredictability of the poem itself, it only makes one’s love for life stronger. Overall, life is all-too short to be dwelling over its inevitable end. Take a second to appreciate its brevity, and then live life to the
Robert Frost and William Shakespeare are both very different writers from vastly different time periods. Their individual writing topics also vary; Shakespeare’s writings focuses more on romance-oriented ideals, while Frost’s work highlights existential questions. However, Frost’s, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and Shakespeare’s, “This time of year thou mayst in me behold,” offer many similarities and differences when it comes to technical elements. Though times had changed considerably during the gap of the 1500s to the 1900s, usage of imagery and tone remains comparably present in these two poems about life as we know it. With beautiful but dark scenery and personalized perspectives on the eventual passage …show more content…
Additionally, he also talks about, “the twilight of such day as sunset fadeth in the west / which by and by black night doth take away / Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest” (ll. 6-8), which is indicative of the end of a day. Mentioning the night is crucial in this stanza, as death is normally characterized by darkness. Shakespeare makes allusions to the end of one’s life by using imagery of bare trees and the setting sun. Delving further into what this means, both of these occurrences are also uncontrollable by man. There is no way to stop the day from ending or the seasons from flowing. This is evidence that Shakespeare potentially felt helpless while he was entering his elder years. However, he ends the poem by stating in an uplifting couplet, “This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong / to love that well which thou must leave ere long” (ll. 13-14). He crafts the entire poem carefully, placing extreme emphasis on these two lines in specific by using indentations and a break in poetic structure. Taking into account the unpredictability of life, and the unpredictability of the poem itself, it only makes one’s love for life stronger. Overall, life is all-too short to be dwelling over its inevitable end. Take a second to appreciate its brevity, and then live life to the