Stopping By Woods 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.
But what does it mean? It's interesting to me that a few simple lines could make people think so much. On just one website is a collection of published essays analyzing this poem: 29 printed pages worth of explanation. Complete with implications of "seductive luxuriousness" and suicidal connotations.
Maybe going here to see Robert Frost himself recite it will give us amateurs a clue.
The explanation that spoke to me most of all was Ben's. A simple interpretation. I'll try to do it justice:
You recognize a beautiful moment. You want to stop and embrace it. You want to revel in it. But you worry about being seen, what others' would think. You continue to consider what even your pet would think more than your original reaction to celebrate. You again recognize the beauty, but then determine...no, there's something else to do. I will not stop; I will not embrace it now.
I'm definitely the type that is more likely to act on what a horse will think of me than what I want myself. Since memorizing this, I've tried to take that extra moment to let beautiful scenes and impressions sink inward, into the spirit.
***
I took a moment today on our walk. The quiet neighborhood street was lined with two rows of tall, damp, leafy trees. The air was fresh and chill. I closed my eyes and breathed in. I tried to stamp this scene in my mind. Especially saved if ever I'm unjustly charged with a prison sentence. It will be a place I can visit in my mind to find solace in an ugly place. I suppose I hope I'll never have to use it. But then I kind of hope I do; then I'll see what power can come from stopping and welcoming life in.
