SOURCE: Garcia, Leni R. “Reflections on ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.’” Sophia 20, no. 1 (May-August 1990): 27-31.

In the following essay, Garcia reflects upon “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” in terms of the philosophical perspective of Marcelian phenomenology.

In this short reflection paper, I do not aim to discuss anything new. My objective is to cross the bridge between philosophy and literature. My framework is the Marcelian phenomenology.

There are pages and pages of literature devoted to the interpretation of Robert Frost's “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” What I wish to do in this paper is to make a simple exposition of this poem in the light of the Marcelian process of reflection. The poem serves as an illustration of Marcel's philosophy in particular, and of existentialism in general.

I

Gabriel Marcel's contention is that philosophy is mainly reflective. To reflect is to be...