The Way Through the Woods by Rudyard Kipling

The Way Through the Woods by Rudyard Kipling

They shut the road through the woods

Seventy years ago.

Weather and rain have undone it again,

And now you would never know

There was once a road through the woods

Before they planted the trees.

It is underneath the coppice and heath,

And the thin anemones.

Only the keeper sees

That, where the ring-dove broods,

And the badgers roll at ease,

There was once a road through the woods.

Yet, if you enter the woods

Of a summer evening late,

When the night-air cools on the trout-ringed pools

Where the otter whistles his mate,

(They fear not men in the woods,

Because they see so few.)

You will hear the beat of a horse's feet,

And the swish of a skirt in the dew,

Steadily cantering through

The misty solitudes,

As though they perfectly knew

The old lost road through the woods.

But there is no road through the woods.

INTRODUCTION -

"The Way Through the Woods" is a famous poetic work by the English poet, Rudyard Kipling. The poem is written in 1910 and is considered to be a narrative and reminiscent poem. It is divided into two uneven stanzas. The first stanza constitutes of twelve lines while the second constitutes of thirteen lines. There is no particular rhyme scheme in the poem. Instead, there are instances of rhyme scattered throughout the lines. The poem describes an old forest path, but through such a description that it excites various emotions in its readers ranging from concern to gloom. The poem contains a conflict in the speaker's emotions. On one point, he is sad about the loss of the forest path which contained so many bitter-sweet memories for him while on another point, he is happy for the trees and the wild animals of the forest that will live unharmed from humans forever.

POET -

Rudyard Kipling ( 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) was an English journalist, poet, novelist, and short-story writer. He is best known for his novels and stories based in India, where he was born. His poetic genius earned him the Noble Prize in Literature making him the first English-language writer to receive the honor. His famous works include The Jungle Book, Just So Stories, Kim, If-, The White Man's Burden, etc.

SUMMARY -

In the first stanza, the speaker says that there had once been a path running through the forest, but that path has been closed down seventy years before this poem was written. Since the path has been closed for such a long time, natural elements like weather and rain have erased it. If someone was to come upon this place now, unaware of the path, they would not know that there was “once a road through the woods.” Nature has taken its full course here. Further, trees had been planted all over the place where the path had previously been and veiled its very existence. The greenery consists of cut-down young trees and shrubs of anemones. There is only one person who is aware of the former existence of the forest path, and that is the gamekeeper. He knows where the path had once been, which is where the ring-dove calls out in its dispirited modes, and where the badgers spend lazy hours rolling around.

In the second stanza, there is a change in the poem's tone and mood as the poet speaks of what will happen if a traveler enters the wood after sunset during summer. The water in the pools where the ringed trout live would have cooled down and the otter could be seen going about its usual business, whistling out to its mate to join it, without paying any attention to the unknown traveler. These creatures of the forest are not fearful of humans since they have only encountered a few of them. If one entered into the woods at this time, there might even be an audible sound of a “horse’s feet” beating on the ground and the sound of a woman's skirt who is riding it. The atmosphere would be misty so that one wouldn’t be able to see properly but it is ok for them. They would move without hesitation and without the need for a path which is good because the old path there is now lost.

THEMES -

• Nature - Nature has a rule - it takes back what it gives. The road through the forest can be considered similar. A path was made through the forest by cutting down trees and disturbing nature. After several decades, nature has taken back its property and mixed it in itself by removing every trace of the path.

• Effect of Time - Time is an important factor in the poem. The road which is the grounds of the whole poem has been shut down seventy years ago. It is a very long segment of time. Time is known to destroy everything with its slow pace and the path too suffered the same fate with time.

END -

The poem ends on a touching note that makes the readers ponder on what the poet is hinting at by enchanting up such transient bearings. The poem has a sense of nostalgia as the old path brings back so many memories but for the betterment of everyone it should remain shut.