Systemic Functional Analysis of the poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Abstract

This study explores Robert Frost’s poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ through the lens of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) model. The poem, written by the renowned American poet Robert Frost, encompasses various themes such as death, obligation, civilization, and nature. This research paper specifically investigates the poet’s attitude toward nature using the SFG model as an analytical tool. An ecocritical perspective is employed to examine the construction of the human–nature relationship. In the analysis of the ideational metafunction, mental and behavioral processes emerged as the most dominant. The interpersonal analysis revealed that all clauses in the poem are in the declarative mood. The textual analysis showed that all but two clauses contain a topical theme. The findings highlight the significance of all three metafunctions in facilitating a deeper understanding of the poem. Overall, the metafunctional analysis enabled us to uncover the poet’s nuanced attitude toward nature.