Sunday, May 25, 2008

Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening- A poem 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's 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.

-Robert Frost.

This poem is very popular among literature experts. Its called 'Stopping by Woods on a snowy evening'. It was written by Robert Frost in the year 1922. There are many websites which give a detailed analysis of what the poem could mean and how its verses were thoughtfully written by the poet. All I know, is that its a nice little poem, with a beautiful meaning which is presented in a somewhat discrete fashion. The poet is travelling on horseback and comes to a forest which is lovely and inviting. He is obviously very tired after a long ride on the horse (His backside must be hurting or he must have lost the feeling of having one!!!) He wants to wait and watch the snow-capped trees and the frozen lake. There is no one to stop him, as the owner of the land lives far away and wont have a clue that someone is going to trespass his soil. He is imagining the peace, quiet and the sights he'll enjoy sitting in the woods when his horse gives its harness bells a shake as if to tell the poet that this is not where they were supposed to go. (Yeah!! Either that or the horse is tired too of carrying its master on its back!!) The poet then comes out of his reverie and realizes that he has to reach his destination, he has duties which have to be completed, before he can rest and hence he has to drive the lovely thoughts to the back of his mind and continue on course.
The last lines of the poems are one of my friend's favourites verses. Hope he reads this post.

2 comments:

Ravan said...

I did read it boy.... Loved it...
Thanks......

Its definitely better than DAFFODILS...

RK said...

Ya like it better than daffodils too.....but then daffodils is a different kind of poem. The poet expresses his pleasure at seeing the sight of so many daffodils. Have you ever been to ganapatipule, a place in konkan? If you have, just recall the feeling you had when you saw the sea coast all of a sudden after travelling for a long time on a road which was surrounded by plains.....maybe then you will appreciate the 'Daffodils'