Stopping by Woods in 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.
Author Robert Frost
SUMMARY
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.
STANZA I
Line 1
Whose woods these are I think I know.
Our speaker is not the most confident person in the world. This line begins as a question, and we’re totally ready to get on board the question train, but then, halfway through the line, he switches it up. He wonders initially who owns “these woods.” The word these makes us realize that our speaker is actually near the woods in question. Our speaker then tells us he thinks he knows who owns these woods. Notice how he doesn’t say he knows who owns these woods; he says he thinks he knows. Why doesn’t our speaker say, “I think I know whose woods these are”? What would be lost or gained if the poem began with that rewritten line?
Line 2
His house is in the village though;
The speaker thinks he knows the owner of woods, and this owner lives in a house in the village. Civilization, sweet, sweet civilization! This line tells us that there is a village around here somewhere. The word “village” reminds us of thatched roofs, smoke curling out of little chimneys, and of a few stores and homes clustered around a single main street; in other words, a village is not the most hoppin’ place in the world. However, our speaker is relieved that the owner of the woods is in the village – now he doesn’t have to worry about getting caught trespassing on someone else’s property.
Line 3
He will not see me stopping here
Man, this woods-owner guy must be pretty strict if our speaker is so worried about getting caught taking a breather on his property. The speaker is almost trying to calm himself down and reassure himself that the owner “will not see me stopping here,” as though he believes that saying so makes it true. It’s similar to the magical phrase, “If I can’t see them, they can’t see me,” uttered by Haley Joel Osment in the movie Sixth Sense. This line also tells us that the speaker has stopped, that he’s hanging out at the moment.
Line 4
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
Our speaker is a total rebel. He’s hardcore trespassing so that he can…watch the snow fall?
Yes, he has stopped in order to take a gander at snow falling on cedars.
STANZA II
Line 5
My little horse must think it queer
Our speaker is not alone! He has a horse, and this horse is little. Maybe a pony. The speaker and his little horse probably spend a lot of time together, because our speaker is totally able to read the little horse’s mind. He imagines that his horse is thinking that things are a little strange right now.
Line 6
To stop without a farmhouse near
Our speaker continues to read his horse’s mind, and imagines the horse is thinking something along the lines of, “Whoa, why are we stopping here? We’re in the middle of nowhereville. Where’s my dinner? I don’t know about you, but I’m cold. There isn’t even a farmhouse close by – what’s going on? “The fact that our speaker even attempts to figure out what his horse is thinking shows that he’s a caring kind of guy, and that he’s aware that stopping in the middle of some snowy woods is kind of a random thing to do.
Line 7
Between the woods and frozen lake
Now we get the 411 on just where, exactly, the speaker and his horse have stopped: they are currently hanging out between the woods and the “frozen lake,” so they must be on a little patch of snowy shoreline with dark trees to one side and a glossy, ice-covered lake to the other. It must be really cold if the lake is frozen, and we also are kind of intrigued by the fact that the speaker is not riding through the woods, but is right beside the woods.
Line 8
The darkest evening of the year.
Not only is it snowy and wintry, but it’s also approaching nighttime too. Why is this speaker dilly-dallying when the light is dying and the snow is falling? A lot of people in his place would want to scurry home as fast as is humanly possible. Besides sounding ominous and like the preview to a horror movie, “the darkest evening of the year” makes us think of the winter solstice, which occurs in late December (in the northern hemisphere) each year when the North Pole is tilted away from the sun (maybe giving Santa a little extra leverage to start his journey?).It also happens to mark the beginning of winter. Whatever the case may be, it’s dark out and it’s getting darker by the minute. We don’t think that the speaker is the kind of guy to pack flashlights.
STANZA III
Line 9
He gives his harness bells a shake
Even though the speaker can read his little horse’s mind, the horse can’t talk back. So, the next best option is to shake his booty. And by shaking his booty, we mean that he shakes his harness a little. There are little bells attached to his harness, which give a nice little jingle (think Santa Claus’s sleigh).
Line 10
To ask if there is some mistake.
Again with the mind reading. Our speaker knows his horse is shaking his bells in order to “ask” his master if something is awry, is there’s a problem. It’s kind of like the horse is saying, “Hey, is everything OK? We’ve been standing here staring at nothing for a little while, and I just wanted to make sure you didn’t need me to keep on truckin’. I’m cool with the standing still thing, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t misinterpreting you.”
Line 11
The only other sound’s the sweep
Beyond the harness bells’ shaking, the only other sound that the speaker can hear is the “sweep. “The word “sweep” makes us think of the sound brooms make when they sweep dust into a dustpan. At this point, we realize that the speaker is taking inventory of all of the sounds around him. He’s interested in sounds.
Line 12
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The sweeping noise comes from the slight wind and the softly falling snow.Have you ever listened to snow falling? It’s very, very quiet. There’s just a gentle whirr. Everything is very, very still.
STANZA IV
Line 13
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
Our speaker finally admits to liking the woods. We knew it all along. He’s entranced by the darkness and deepness of the woods, and he thinks they are lovely. Dark and deep woods are awesome in our book, but they also make us feel slightly anxious. There’s something mysterious about the maze-like nature of woods and forests. The point, though, is that our speaker digs these woods.
Line 14
But I have promises to keep,
Our speaker begins this line with the word “but.” The word “but” makes us think that the speaker is contemplating staying in these woods rather than returning to the village to fulfill the promises he’s made. These promises may be things like, “I’ll be home for dinner, mom,” or they may be things like, “Let’s get married,” or “I will take care of you. “Regardless of whether these are big promises or little promises, our speaker flirts momentarily with the idea of breaking them, before deciding against it.
Line 15
And miles to go before I sleep,
Rats. Our speaker really is in the middle of nowhere, because he’s still got a few miles to go before he can rest his head on his pillow. He better roll out soon. But we feel like we are well acquainted with that feeling of being so far away from where you need to be that it almost seems easier to just give up and hang out.
Line 16
And miles to go before I sleep.
OK, so our speaker must really be far from home, because he feels the need to repeat the fact that he’s got miles to go. However, when he says the line a second time, we hear the word “sleep” more clearly than when we heard it in the line before. Maybe that’s because “sleep” has the honor of wrapping up the entire poem. In any case, this line makes us think of how awesome it will be for our speaker to finally rest his head on his pillow after such a long trek.