[#1CTYankee]

I look foreward to the interpretation of this classic by my fellow Freepers.

I'm not big on poetry but I've always found this work to be one on the finest. (although The Raven is my favorite)

[rlmorel]

I have always liked this poem immensely.

But I have always thought that people read too damn much into simple things. As another poster said, his English class was taught it was about suicide. Good Lord, is there any snippet of literature of any kind that an English teacher will insist has layers of deeper meaning, usually involving death or sex?

To quote Freud...”Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

I have always taken this to mean exactly what it says. When he says “...miles to go before I sleep...” I don’t get the impression of suicide or death.

I get the impression of a man, either on a horse or being drawn in a small carriage dressed in heavy clothes and peacoat. It is the Winter Solstice, heading out of his small town to some other destination, possibly to visit distant relatives for Christmas. I imagine he has only left town recently, and has left the warmth of a house and fireplace. His journey is going to be long, and he knows that the comfort and warmth he still retains will eventually disappear as his journey progresses. As he thinks about the long journey, he thinks about the end of the journey, where a warm bed with quilts, a fireplace and the comfort of a safe roof over his head awaits.

But, that is going to be a long way off.

Nevertheless, while he still retains that comfort, he can stop, look out at the woods where he is heading and appreciate the silence, serenity and beauty that only the woods at night in a light snowfall can possess, and only be fully appreciated by those who do not yet feel the full bite of the elements.

That’s all.

But then, I am a glass-half-full guy...:)

[Richard Kimball]

Robert stopped by Woods,
And Elin clubbed him with a 9 iron.

[AnnaZ]

Thanks for the lovely poem, I adore it, although another is my favorite Frost.

My eldest son memorized it for a reading when he was about 7, and any recital of it made my eyes well up. It made him crazy... lol.

The Road Not Taken
by: Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.

[marmar]

I memorized this poem for school a long time ago and I still remember most of it, because I liked it so much. Thanks

[Freakdog]

As suggested, it is about suicide. The man normally does not stop on his travels as indicated by the horse's response. There is no one around who can see him or what he is doing. It is December 21st,winter solstice "darkest evening of the year";.So X-mas is a couple days away as well as New Years.Many people get the Holiday or winter blues and bump themselves off. "the woods are lovely,dark and deep" He almost buys into his thoughts but decides he has too much to live for. I think he only subconsciously thinks about death. Most people like this poem because we can all relate to it and as one poster said Go walk in a snowstorm at night to experice this masterpiece.

[Petronski]

[Exit148]

I think we studied this in high school, but not in depth-—and not studied in nursing. But I’ve always been a lover of poetry. “Best Loved Poems of the American People” being one of my favs.

All Frost poems have a beautiful simplicity. I don’t want to analyze them —— just feel them.

In this one, I can hear the soft sounds of the falling snow, as he pauses. Silence all around (except for the occasional snort and the breathing from his horse) I can feel the soft snow on my face and would just love to stay there soaking up the beauty and serenity that is all around me——but “I have promises to keep”.

There is something about being alone in soft falling snow. So quiet all around, yet you can hear the snow as it lands. Frost captures that moment for me with his words.

[Cincinna]

Thanks, Yankee, for posting this beautiful poem, We had to memorize it in third grade, and I love it still.

The very evocative ending:
“But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

A blessed New Year to you and your family.