Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Style

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Style

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is written in iambic tetrameter. "Iambic" means that each metrical foot contains two syllables, an unstressed :me followed by a stressed one. "Tetrameter" means that each line contains four metrical feet. So 1 poem written in iambic tetrameter would contain 1 total of eight syllables in each line. This idea will become clearer if we scan a line, or diagram the meter:

Of easy wind and downy flake.

When the line is scanned, it will look like this: Of eas / y wind / and down / y flake.

Such metrical patterns generally make poetry sound more musical. Occasionally, a line will vary from the established pattern, which often emphasizes the importance of that line.

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" also relies on rhyme to achieve some of its music. For the first three stanzas, the rhyme...
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