Sunday, January 19, 2014

Poem of the Week

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.
 

3 comments:

Annabelle said...

I love to read this poem. I had a friend a few years ago, who has since passed away, and he was a retired professor of English at the University of Michigan. I brought him as a guest to our small Catholic School during National Poetry Month (and again during Nat'l Reading Month) and he told the children about this poem one year. He told them that Robert Frost spent some time at the U of Mich and lived in the country north of campus (our school is less than 20 miles north of campus in an area with lots of lakes). He had us imagine riding in a carriage with a horse on one of our many dirt country roads on a snowy night and seeing just this scene. A beautiful scene it is! For me, an engineer by training, just listening him read and explain poetry opened up a window no other teacher had done. The first graders heard the opening of "Romeo and Juliet" from deep in his memory (he was probably 74 at the time). Fun stuff!

Wendy said...

What a lovely memory! Thanks for sharing!

Sue Elvis said...

Wendy,

This is one of my favourite poems. Favourite poets too! Thank you for sharing so I could meet up with an old friend on your blog.