Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 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 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.

Our speaker is in the woods, but (gasp) he's trespassing. He first wonders who owns these woods. In the same breath, he tells us that he thinks he does know who owns them. The lucky landowner lives in a house in the village. Phew. So, our speaker won't get into trouble for trespassing, because there's no one to catch him trespassing. 

Surprise! Our speaker has a horse (neigh), and this horse is little. Our speaker psycho-analyzes his little horse and supposes that said little horse must think it's pretty strange for them to be stopping in the middle of nowhere, with no one in sight, with not even a farmhouse close by, and absolutely no sign of hay. Newsflash: the speaker and his little horse are chilling (pun intended) between the woods and a frozen lake. Ice skating? Nope. Also, it happens to be the darkest evening of the year.

Little Horse is starting to really lose it. Fortunately, he has some harness bells on his back, and he gives them a little shake in order to get his master's attention. The only other sounds are of a slight wind and of falling snow. Shhhhhh. It's quiet. 
Our speaker admits to having a hankering for the dark woods, but he tells us he's got things to do, people to see and places to go. He's got a long way to go before he can rest his head on his little pillow, so he had better get going.

Maybe you've seen this little poem elegantly scrawled on a gift card. Perhaps your favorite teacher recited it to you and your classmates with a chilling, gravelly voice. Or perchance you simply came across it once upon a time and can't seem to get it out of your head. No matter what, we're willing to bet big money that you and this poem are already friends.

Robert Frost wrote "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" in 1922, two years before winning the first of his four Pulitzer Prizes. The poem tells the story of a man traveling through some snowy woods on the darkest evening of the year, and he's pretty much in love with what he sees around him. He's on his way back to town, but he can't quite tear himself away from the lovely and dark woods.

People love to talk about what this poem means. Some argue that it is simply a description of a man appreciating nature. Others would tell you that there is some heavy metaphor action going down, and that the poem is about death. And there are those who take it a step further and say that this poem addresses suicide. Nature-lovers see it as a piece that trumpets nature and that scorns civilization (take that, civilization!). You probably have your own idea of what this poem means. We at Shmoop have an inkling that the heart of this poem's awesomeness lies in how it soundsrather than in what it means, and so we're going to take some time to look at and listen to the sounds in this poem (see "Sound Check").

Robert Frost is a beloved American poet, and many people associate him with nature and with the New England landscape, because, well, he liked to write about nature and the New England landscape. He was born in San Francisco (land of the sourdough), but spent most of his years in snowy places like Massachusetts and New Hampshire (land of the maple syrup). 

Frost is known for creating simple poems that can be interpreted on many different levels. He also loved to inject every day, colloquial speech into his poems. He was big on sounds, often talking about how the sounds of words carry more meaning than the words themselves. Check it:

"What we do get in life and miss so often in literature is the sentence
sounds that underlie the words. Words themselves do not convey meaning,
and to [. . . prove] this, . . . let us take the example of two people who
are talking on the other side of a closed door, whose voices can be heard
but whose words cannot be distinguished. Even though the words do not
carry, the sound of them does, and the listener can catch the meaning of
the conversation. . . . [T]o me a sentence is not interesting merely in
conveying a meaning of words. It must do something more; it must convey a
meaning by sound." (Source)

So, if we follow Mr. Frost's advice, we shouldn't be so concerned with what this poem means as concerned with how it means. Let's warm up our vocal chords and perk up our ears, because something tells us we're going to be reciting and listening to "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" until the wee hours of the night.

 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening' is one of Robert Frost's most famous poems, filled with the theme of nature and vivid imagery that readers of his work have come to love. In this lesson, we'll summarize the poem, discuss its major theme and several interpretations, and finish with a quiz to test your knowledge.

The Poem

If you've ever seen or experienced snow, you've probably taken a few minutes to marvel at its beauty. Possibly you were drawn to this element of nature that is at once soothing to look at and dark in its association with cold, winter, and the silence of nature. In literature, the seasons of nature are often used to explore the relationship between life and death, and one of Robert Frost's most famous poems, 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,' written in 1922, captures this pull between life and death, man, and nature.

Theme & Analysis

Like many of Frost's poems, 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening' deals with the contemplation of nature. Many readers debate about whether or not the tone of the poem is calm and serene or dark and depressing.

Serene Interpretation

On the one hand, the speaker wants to take a moment to pause in a quiet spot to watch the snow falling, perhaps to soothe his mind and contemplate nature. The pull of the woods could just be the solitude of being alone and the lure of being free of responsibilities.

It might also suggest a sense of adventure and attraction to danger - the 'darkness' and 'depth' of the woods. Perhaps the speaker wants to experience new things and places, but his responsibilities - his work, his family, his community - keep him from going off on dark and dangerous adventures.