Meanings Beyond the Words: The Study of Empson's Seven Types of Ambiguity in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Abstract

This study circles around the Seven Types of Ambiguities by William Empson in Robert Frost’s poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evenings. The researcher explores all these ambiguities to highlight various meanings of the poem. The poem has verbal ambiguity which is related to the pause or stay in the woods. Semantic ambiguity is there in the sense of woods as a forest or actual woods. The short sentences, continuity of meaning in stanzas (enjambment), and different structures point towards the Syntactic ambiguity. The speaker lingers or is trapped between the responsibilities of life and the serenity (peace) of the woods which presents Tonal ambiguity. The Contextual ambiguity showcases in the realm of day and night or winter season and eternity. The poem’s meanings in regard to social, emotional, psychological, and philosophical ground clearly mention Full ambiguity. Conclusively, the poem offers uniqueness in diverse meanings through these ambiguities according to the readers’ state of mind. The researcher analyzes other research articles, books, and documents to support the topic under study.