Stopping by the woods on a Snowy Evening

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

Robert Frost.

Summary

A wagon driver is traveling by the snow covered woods. It is evening. He is attracted by the beauty of the woods. He stops for awhile there, looking at the beautiful sight of the woods.

He says to himself that he probably knows the owner of the woods. He is sure that the owner must be at the village and hence there is no chance he can notice him enjoying the sight of the woods. He then coutions himself that the woods is dark, deep and dangerous as well.

Noticing the master lost in enjoying the sight, the horse shakes its body so that the bells tied to the harness jingle and alert him. The traveller understands the gesture of the horse. It may be wondering why the man has stopped at a deserted place where there is no farm house nearby. It is rather unusual for the horse.

Now the man comes to his senses and realises that he is not supposed to stop there. He has to do his duty. He should not be distracted by the temptations. He has to keep up his promises and fulfill obligations. He has to deliver the goods. So, he must move on till he reaches his destination.

This is only a simple understanding of the text. But interpretation of the poem is very important. Now, let us see if there is any inner meaning in this poem.

The last stanza gives us a clear indication that the poet mean something else than the words suggest. When he says ' the woods are lovely dark and deep, he doesn't just praise the beauty of the woods but warns us that they are dark and deep ( something dangerous). Further he says, 'But I have promises to keep.' This shows that he has some moral/ social obligations to fulfill. If it was only seeing the beauty of the Nature in it's different manifestations, he wouldn't have thought of the promises. Further, he says ,' miles to go before I sleep' . Here, we cannot take the literal meaning of sleep. Sleep stands for death. So we can say that the poem needs interpretation rather than enjoying the lyrics.

Here, woods ( a lightl forest) stands for something attractive, something that tempts you and gives instant /temporary gratification but harmful for us. May be it is drugs, liquor, gambling etc. But, I interpret woods to be a woman especially someone's wife. This idea comes to us when we read the very first stanza. The man says that he seems to know the person to whom that woods belong to. He also says that the owner is unlikely to see him watching the woods as he in the village. It means, the traveller is guilty of stopping to watch the woods and enjoy the beauty. So, he knows he is doing something wrong. If it is really woods, no owner will ever object anyone who wishes to see his woods.

And further the traveller reminds himself that he has promises to keep. The promise of being faithful to his wife. It is very natural that someone's wife looks more beautiful than one's own wife. This attraction is very alluring and at the same time very dangerous too. That is why the poet says, " woods are dark and deep". Here, we find a word of caution.

Next, the poet says that his little horse alerts him by shaking the bells fastened to its harness. Here, the poet guesses what his horse wants to say by the gesture. That means, it is the voice of his own conscience and not what his horse has in its mind. It is unusual of him to stop at the forbidden places. The poet uses an agency ( an animal) to express his own thoughts. He knows that he has stopped at a forbidden place and enjoying something secretly.

Normally woods is not a forbidden place. This shows clearly that there is an allegory in this poem.

Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.