AppreciatingthepoemofStoppingByWoodsonaSnowyEvening

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【Abstract】This paper will analyze Robert Frost’s poem of Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening from the perspective ofinterpersonal function.It will make a analysis at the level of syntax and lexicon，providing the poetic appreciation with a new angle of SFL.

【Key Words】 interpersonal function； mood； modality； poetic appreciation

1.brief introduction of interpersonal function

Hallidy （M.A.K.Halliday） Systematic Functional Linguistic theory is one of the most influential international linguistic theories in the second half of the 20thcentury.According to Halliday，the most fundamental components of meaning in language are functional component：Ideational metafucntion，Interpersonal metafucniton and Textual metafunction.

In 2002，Halliday then concludes that the systems of moodmodality，person，key，intensity，evaluation and comment and the like can also reveal the interpersonal function（Halliday，2002：56）.Halliday（2004）mainly analyzes the realization of the interpersonal function from the aspects of mood，modality and tone.

2.the analysis of the poem

The present researcher would like to analyze the poem written by Robert Frost，Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening The original text is as follow：

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

― ― Robert Frost

①Whose woods these are I think I know.

②His house is in the village，though；

③He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

④My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farm house near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

⑤He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

⑥The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

⑦The woods are lovely，dark and deep.

⑧But I have promises to keep，

And miles to go before I sleep，

And miles to go before I sleep.

Mood of this poem will be elaborated in more details in the following table.

From the table，on one hand，we can know for sure that all the clauses，the subject is followed by finite.The order subject before finite means declarative mood.As a consequence，most of lines in each stanzas are written in the declarative mood.Statements are mainly realized through the declarative mood.The speech function is mainly statement in that the poem serves to be an exchange of information given to the readers.What the poet wants to do with the readers is to exchange information.In this poem，it is aimed at describing a tourist，who was exhausted both mentally and physically.Although he hurried on with his journey on a snowy evening，he got indulged in the silence and magnificence of the forest in half way.Finally，he became aware of his errors of stopping and continued his journey.In Halliday’s model，finiteness combines the specification of polarity with the specification of either temporal or model reference to the speech event（Halliday1994/2000：75）.So，the author would like to discuss this poem in terms of finite operators.In this poem，the main tense is present except the third line in the first stanza.Although the usage of “will”might be regarded as future tense at the first glance，close observed，it is a mediate value finite modal verb.It can be understood in this way.It is the usage of “will”that reveals the writer’s thoughts in his inner mind.He expected the owner of the forest not to be perceive his stopping by woods.In other words，he kept at a distance from the owner of woods on purpose.From what the present author has mentioned，conclusion can be easily made that the present tense should be the main tense of the poem.

From the table，on the other hand，we can clearly get to know that there are eight clauses in this poems.There are two first-person pronouns and six third-person pronouns，and no second -person pronoun .The first subject in the first clause is the same as the one in the last clause，first-person pronoun “I”.Though in the poem，the first line is “whose woods there are I think I know.” Outwardly，it is easy to make a mistake that “whose woods” is subject.It is，in fact，theme rather than subject.The way which recognizes subject and finite is the addition of tag question to the end of the clause in declarative mood.It is well known that the question tag should be concord with the statement part in person，number and tense.At the same time，in the form of I /think /suppose /expect /believe following an object clause，tag question is consistent with the object clause in person，number and tense.As a consequence，the tag question of the first clause is “Whose woods there are I think I know，do I ？”.Italics is tag question and the subject of tag question is genuine subject of the first clause.So，the subject of first clause should be “I.” The subject “ I ” specifies the entity in respect of which the assertion is claimed to have validity.In other words，it is “I ”this subject in which is vested the success of failure of the proposition.The subject “I” is important component of mood.The subject from the second clause to the seventh one is the third-person.Among them，two are used for people and the rest of them for objects.The subject of the third clause is different from the one in the fifth.The subject “he” in the third refers to the owner of the woods.The subject “he” in the fifth means to the little horse，which is personified.

Then，the author will probe another important part of interpersonal function，modality.According to Halliday，modality refers to the“intermediate degrees，between the positive and negative poles”（Halliday，1994：88）.However，the possibilities are not limited to a choice between yes and no.There are intermediate degrees：various kinds of indeterminacy fall in between，like “sometimes ”or “maybe”.All of these intermediate degrees can be regarded as modality.Modality is always realized by modal verbs，modal adverbs，as well as the extension of predicate，which is called as metaphors of modality.In the first sentence of the poem “ I think I know”，“ I think” is regarded as metaphors of modality.“ Whose woods there are I know” is proposition.“ I think” implies the meaning of speculation and suspicion.It is a metaphorical variant.This metaphorical variant is equivalent to “probably” to some extent.It implies the poet’s uncertain and hesitation.In a statement，the modality is an expression of the speaker’s opinion.Furthermore，even a high value modal （certainly，） is less determine than a polar form that’s certainly John is less certain than that’s John.As a consequence，“I think I know” is less certain than“ I know”.In other words，the writer in the poem says something which he is not certain.The usage of “I think”expresses the restless，undetermination and hesitation in the poet’s inner heart，which implies the indifferent relationship between writer and the owner of woods.Modality refers to the speaker’s judgment of the probabilities involved in what he is saying.In the third clause，“will not” is negative polar.“will” is a median value modal bining the “will not” with “I think，”we can conclude that the writer expects the owner of woods not to know his stopping by the woods.In reality，if“I”were familiar with the owner of woods who lived in the village，“ I” would spend a night in his home.“I”，however，didn’t do that.By the analysis of modality，we can firmly get to know “I”in poem did not want to meet with the owner of woods at all.“I” kept away from the owner of the wood on purpose.Now，we look at the first clause in the second stanza.There is a modal operator “must”in it.It is a high value modal operator and indicates more positive speculations.In the second stanza，the little horse is personified and he is a symbol of ration and reality.He shouldered the responsibility of awareness and persuasion for the writer.In his opinion，it is impossible to stop without a farmhouse near between the woods and frozen lake on the darkest evening of the year.In fact，what the little horse has thought in his mind corresponds to what the writer has thought .The writer is not willing to acknowledge this.Consequently，he expresses his thoughts by the mouth of the little horse in that he doesn’t want to admit his fearlessness.There is an adjuncts of mood “only”，expressing the intensity.The use of “only”suggests that the circumstance of the woods on the darkest evening of the year is not good despite its beautiful scene.Under such frozen night，what the poet hears is nothing but the sound of wind and downy flake.It gives a hint that the poet should continue his journey instead of free himself.

3.concusion

From what the present researcher has mentioned above，it is easy to make a conclusion that interpersonal function can be used to analyze English poetry.With this analysis，readers can appreciate this poem from a new point of view and be completely free themselves from the traditional standard of appreciation of poetry.

References：

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