Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

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.

INTRODUCTION –

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is a poem by Robert Frost. It was written in 1922, and published in 1923 in his collection New Hampshire. The poem consists of 16 lines which are divided into four quatrains. The rhyme scheme of the poem is AABA BCBB CDCC DDDD. The narrator of the poem is a traveller who has stopped near a forest to watch the snowfall. The poem describes the poet’s love for nature and his sense of duty.

 

POET -

Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. He served as the Poet Laureate of Vernot. Also, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times. His most famous works include The Road Not Taken, Stopping by Woods on A Snowy Evening, etc.

SUMMARY –

LINES 1 TO 4 –

The poet, during his journey, stops near a wood. He says that he knows the owner of this forest who lives in a nearby village. But at this moment, he is not there and so could not see the poet standing and watching the snowfall in the forest.

LINES 5 TO 8 –

The poet says that his horse must have been confused about why we stopped here as he couldn’t see any farmhouse nearby. There is nothing except the forest and the frozen lake and this evening are the darkest in the whole year. So the horse is confused.

LINES 9 TO 12 –

The horse shakes the bell on its harness as if questioning the speaker for a mistake. He might be thinking that they have stopped in the wrong place. The only other sounds that can be heard are the blowing of the wind and snowflakes' falling.

 

LINES 13 TO 16 –

Now, the narrator remembers his duties and says that the woods are beautiful, dark, and deep. However, he has made some promises to his loved ones, so he has to complete his journey and return home. He can’t stand and watch the woods because he has to travel miles.

THEMES –

• The beauty of nature – The narrator is lost in the beauty of the snow-covered forest. He stops his horse and abandons his journey to have a look at the beauty of nature.

• Duty – The narrator enjoys nature's beauty and can’t spend his time watching it because he has some social obligations or responsibility. This duty forces him to continue his journey.

 

END –

So, we can say that the poem is a conflict between two ideas – the beauty of nature vs social obligation. The narrator admires nature, but he has his journeys to complete and duties to fulfil.