Stopping By Wood on A Snowy Evening

Stopping By Wood on A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

About the poet:

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California (1874). He moved to Massachusetts when he was very young. When he grew up, he attended Dartmouth and Harvard but didn’t graduate. Then, he married Ms White in 1895, who had shared top honours with him in high school. He moved to Great Britain because his work was not appreciated by the US, and eventually printed A Boy’s Will, his first book of poems in 1913. He printed his second book North of Boston in 1914, and was published in the US in 1915. After gaining his reputation in the US, Robert Frost moved back to America, and four Pulitzers Prizes. He was invited to recite his poem The Gift Outright at John Kennedy’s inauguration, and in January 1916, and passed away in 1963.

Poem introduction:

First of all, I would like to get into the details of the literary meanings. The first stanza wrote that “Whose woods these are I think I know” which means that he had been there several times, or to be specific, he had encountered such situation or was involved in such condition more than once. Due to the fact that the owner of the woods was in the village, somewhere outside the woods, the poet was left alone, and was able to do all sorts of things he wanted to, regardless of how others were going to judge him. After all, there was no one there to convict him.

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In the second stanza, the poet mentioned that it was the darkest evening of the year. There might be two meanings here—1) winter solstice, 2) the poet was experiencing great depression. Puzzled, the horse of the poet shook his bell to question his master whether his decision was a mistake. We could find a splendid use of personification here.

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I could tell that the surroundings were extremely quiet from the way the poet described that the only two sounds which could be heard were the ringing of the horse-bell and the sweep of easy wind and downy flake. Soundless does not mean thorough silence while a bit of sound could contrast the quietness of the environment. Here is a Chinese poetry that could prove this phenomenon: 蟬鳴林更靜，鳥鳴山更幽。

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The poet used words like “dark” and “deep” to describe the woods which engendered us to focus on the spooky aspects of the place he was dwelling in. Nevertheless, he used the word “lovely,” which gave out a totally different concept. It meant that he was not afraid of the darkness, and was even attracted to the gloom of the woods. Although he would really like to stay, he had no choice but to carry on, for he had obligations and responsibilities. He reminded himself about the promises he had to keep by repeating the last sentence “And miles to go before I sleep.”

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Getting back into the main point, why did the poet stopped by the dark and deep woods? We could see a picture of falling snow, which give us a vision of resting and lying down. I believe the poet had faced some difficulties and frustrations that forced him into such circumstance time and again. He wanted to get out of reality, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and to live in seclusion like a hermit in the dark and quiet woods. However, he had promises to keep. Over here, the poet used the word “dark” to contrast the light in the city. In addition, “promises” are towards people, and the poet did not want to hang around with people, but to be alone. As a result, it put the poet in a dilemma—to stay or to go. The poem did not reveal whether the poet stayed or left, but I reckon the poet had moved on because at the very beginning of the poem, we could tell that the poet had encountered such situation more than once, and he had chosen to fulfill his responsibilities. As such, I think he should have done the same.

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A poem of nature, an art of decision, I like how the poet connected these two very different things, which make the poem interesting and beautiful. I believe many of us had also been involved in similar situations before, but in no circumstances could we give up our promises toward others. After all, it is these promises that keep us moving on! Every human being lives for a promise to keep, a goal to fulfill!

By:

National Central University

Department of English

Gabriel Tien Jing Wei 田京威

981002518