stopping by woods on a snowy evening
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.
Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” from The Poetry of
Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem. Copyright 1923, © 1969 by
Henry Holt and Company, Inc., renewed 1951, by Robert Frost. Reprinted with the
permission of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Source: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays (Library of America, 1995)
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.
Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” from The Poetry of
Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem. Copyright 1923, © 1969 by
Henry Holt and Company, Inc., renewed 1951, by Robert Frost. Reprinted with the
permission of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Source: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays (Library of America, 1995)
QUESTIONS
1. On a literal level, why does the speaker decide to move on just as he's enjoying the beauty of the woods?
2. To understand the poem on a symbolic level, we have to make sense of the connections that will convince us that the poem is much more than our simple literal reading indicates. What might the harness bells remind the speaker of? (What other bells summon us to do things in life?)
3. In contrast to the bells, what do you think the wind "says" tp the speaker? Why is it significant that the speaker hears only two sounds? What conflict is established?
4. "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep," says the speaker, and follows this statement with "But" -- as though scolding himself for being so enchanted with the beautiful scene. This indicates that he has come to his senses, and realizes he has commitments -- but to what, or to whom? What so suppose his "promises" are?
5. Robert Frost was asked many times what the "miles to go" and the "sleep" in this poem symbolizes, but he never answered the questions. When the speaker first says he has "miles to go" before he can "sleep," what is he probably thinking of? What metaphorical "sleep" do you think he might mean when he repeats the line?
6. The big question set up by the poem is what those lovely, dark, and deep woods symbolize to this traveler. What idea or value in life has he said "no" to in passing them by?
7. Whatever the woods stands for, what has the speaker said "yes" to in passing them by? In other words, what choice has he made?
8. Do you think the poem is about a feeling that we all might have at one time or another in our lives? Explain.
1. On a literal level, why does the speaker decide to move on just as he's enjoying the beauty of the woods?
2. To understand the poem on a symbolic level, we have to make sense of the connections that will convince us that the poem is much more than our simple literal reading indicates. What might the harness bells remind the speaker of? (What other bells summon us to do things in life?)
3. In contrast to the bells, what do you think the wind "says" tp the speaker? Why is it significant that the speaker hears only two sounds? What conflict is established?
4. "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep," says the speaker, and follows this statement with "But" -- as though scolding himself for being so enchanted with the beautiful scene. This indicates that he has come to his senses, and realizes he has commitments -- but to what, or to whom? What so suppose his "promises" are?
5. Robert Frost was asked many times what the "miles to go" and the "sleep" in this poem symbolizes, but he never answered the questions. When the speaker first says he has "miles to go" before he can "sleep," what is he probably thinking of? What metaphorical "sleep" do you think he might mean when he repeats the line?
6. The big question set up by the poem is what those lovely, dark, and deep woods symbolize to this traveler. What idea or value in life has he said "no" to in passing them by?
7. Whatever the woods stands for, what has the speaker said "yes" to in passing them by? In other words, what choice has he made?
8. Do you think the poem is about a feeling that we all might have at one time or another in our lives? Explain.
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