A Stylistic Study of Robert Frost’s “For Once, Then, Something” (1923) and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (1923)

Abstract

This research paper discusses how the grammatical and semantic roles can cohesively be related to the poetic connotations and the thematic analysis in two of Frost’s poems. In “For Once, then, Something,” stylistic devices are meant to resolve the religious significance of man’s journey to death and to foreground man’s quest to gain life wisdom. For instance, Short’s discussion of the grammatical roles and stylistic devices shows that the style of the first lyric, that is written as an enjambment, echoes the literary technique of stream of consciousness. Similarly, in the second lyric the bond between the grammatical and literary aspects expounds the theme of death wish. Hence, the researcher’s stylistic study highlights poetic cohesion between the two lyrics, thus foregrounding Frost’s mystical quest in search of the reality behind death. Consequently, the views of many scholars help the researcher to develop her stylistic interpretations.