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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
Summary-
The poet, Robert Frost stops his horse driven carriage one evening along a country road to watch the snowfall in the woods. He says that the owner of the woods lives in the village and hence that he will not witness the poet stopping there to watch his woods fill up with snow. The owner of the woods is an absent character who lives away from nature and it is ironic that though he owns the woods, he does not acknowledge what he has. He stays away from nature. This is significant that the modern world has created barriers between man and nature. The poet appears to be an unaccompanied traveler who finds himself by the woods one late evening. It was snowing and the poet is hypnotized by the sight of the soft silent whiteness of the snow filling up the woods. He gazes at it and the solitude and the natural beauty tempts him to stay on. However it was unusual for him to stay on as it was a dark winter evening- "the darkest evening of the year" and there was no human habitation around-without a farmhouse near and was was freezing cold- "frozen lake". Moreover, this was not his objective and he had incomplete tasks waiting for him. The poet seemed to enjoy his isolated state and loved the natural beauty surrounding him. He wished to stay connected to nature. The woods which are described as lovely dark sensuous or beautiful enjoyments of life which attract us and tempt us away from the path of duty. It represents the unknown and mysterious world which attract us and tempt us away from the path of duty. It represents the unknown and mysterious world which can cast its spell upon us and make us forget reality. A world offering perfect quiet and solitude to man. The village on the other hand refers to the civilized world- a world of social obligations which man has to return to eventually. The poet thought that his horse, out of habit must have found it queer to stop by the woods with no human habitation around and between "the woods and frozen lake" The horse probably represented his own feeling of guilt of abandoning his responsibility and indulging in pleasure. It could also be a representation of domesticated society that would call the poet back into its world{the harness bells} and not let him wander into an unknown land. The darkest evening of the year refers to December 22nd- the longest night of the year i.e. winter solstice. On this dark cold night the poet had to make a decision whether to enjoy the natural beauty or to go back to his responsibility. By calling the evening "darkest", the poet seemed to be in a moment of crisis- i.e. an indication of the temptation being the strongest in him to be lost into dark oblivion {forgetfulness} of pleasures and ignore the social responsibilities waiting for him. The horse, to draw the attention of the poet shook his harness bells as if to indicate to the poet that there was some mistake in stopping at such an unusual junction. This jolted the poet back into the world of reality where he admitted that though the woods were "lovely, dark and deep", he had unfinished tasks to go back to. The horse considered stopping at the woods a mistake at that time as it was an intensely cold and dark night and there was no farmhouse to indicate human habitation. Moreover the frozen lake further suggested the unfriendly atmosphere for the horse and the traveler. Other than the harness bells, the poet can only hear the sweeping of the wind and the snow falling softly like feathers. By drawing attention to these barely heard sounds in which there is no real melody, the poet shows his fascination for the beauties of nature. For him the source of nature's beauty is in its mystery not in its familiarity. So other people would not find any common rhythm in the snowflakes falling softly but the poet would appreciate it with a heightened ear. The harness bells of the horse remind the poet of reality which he had been tempted to move away from. The poet was commuted to nature. Robert Frost refers to the woods as lovely because it conveys the idea of beauty in nature. The "darkness" and"deep" indicates the mystery in nature. Frost finds connection in the woods being mysterious and that element adds to the enchantment of nature. The poet had a strong desire to stop and linger and give in to temptation of watching the woods fill up rapidly with snow. But he knew he had to move on for there were promises that he had to keep and his duties too had to be fulfilled, and he therefore could not submit to the desires but had to perform his tasks before he could rest. The poet finally moved on remembering that he had a lot of work before he could rest. The word sleep over here has two meanings:- textually it could refer to the sleep at the end of the day, at a deeper level it could also indicate that the poet had a lot of tasks, a lot of duties to complete before the final rest of life- i.e. death