poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

Interpreting a poem is a chancy business. I always go by the dictum that I have to show the logic of my interpretation by the evidence in the poem. I don't drag in fanciful references to Jesus, ownership of property, ghosts, Santa Claus, suicide and all the other baggage that seems prevalent in many of these comments.I must show a reason for my reading of the poem. The poem pivots on that "but" in the last stanza. Isolation, doubt, loneliness are the key elements. The reader cannot put his thoughts into the poem. Let the poem speak for itself. All poems are riddles to solve. You cannot give a false solution that is not sustained by the evidence within the poem.

Whether it be suicide, or just coming to a point in one's life where you think it might be your time, it's still death. To me, the symbols of desth in this poem are clear. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. What's darker than death? Graves are pretty deep.
My grandfather was gravely ill, and could have passed at any time. But I had a trip planned to come out and see him. So he stuck around. After my sister visited him a couple weeks later, he died peacefully in his sleep. He saw his "woods" But first, he had some promises to keep.

I must say, though of all the comments posted here are thought provoking, Isabel's musings affected me deeply; Perhaps as much as the poem itself!
Way to go.

The poem doesn't mention duty but "promises". I think this important and makes the poem much more positive and life affirming. Promises are things we would wish to keep. A teacher has a duty to turn up to teach every day but his promise to his students is to bring them to a better understanding of a subject and maybe life in general. Think also parenthood and partnerships. The comfort of the woods is a delusion and the sighing wind and downy flakes have a dangerous hypnotic quality. The keeping of our life promises (including ones made to ourselves) is not easy but ultimately what makes life worth living. That is why I find this poem so inspirational.

This poem has nothing to do with suicide. It does have to do with death though. First of all you must try to figure out some information about the speaker in the poem. The line "To watch his woods fill up with snow" implies that he is old or "in the winter of his life". Say that his life was a year long. This would mean that spring would be when he was born and snow falling and the season becoming winter shows that he is growing old. In saying that, we go to the last line. Frost obviously wants us to take a second look at the last line in the poem because he wrote it twice. "And miles to go before I sleep". Sleep symbolizes eternal slumber or death and miles to go means a while left to live. In other words he is saying "I have some time to live before I die." When Frost writes "But I have promises to keep" that obviously means, he has some things he needs to do before he dies. "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep" The woods symbolize death and the rest of this line shows that the woods, or death, look inviting to him. Now, the poem devotes many lines to his only companion, the horse. The horse symbolizes family and loved ones. So this poem is about and old man, or woman. The old man/woman knows that they are reaching the end of their life. They start to consider their mortality and suddenly death, the woods, starts to look warm and inviting. Old people live long lives and death looks good because they can come to terms with it. They've seen things and it is harder to live with their old worn out body and the end of the road is starting to look good. When this old person stops and looks at death and talks about it (the woods) it makes family and loved ones (the horse) grow uncomfortable and can't understand (think it queer) why the old person would look at it. The family does not want to talk about the person dying, so they say "Come on, what are we doing here? It's cold and lonely. Let's go to a happier place." (Just like the horse.) But then the old person thinks i can accept death when it comes but there are things I have to do. Maybe write a will or see a great grandson graduate, something like that. (Promises to keep) And then he knows the old man knows that he still has more time to live before he dies.

the poem is for me a gentle reminder of the priority of our obligations over indulgences. I remind myself of the last stanza everytime the desire to procastinate, which is overwhelming, as a response to everyday pressures. I can't compare this poem to any other for it's sophisticated simplicity and thoughtfulness. Robert Frost should have been a Nobel Laureate!

Rather than trying to probe into some deep meaning of this poem, I thought it would be fun to look at the scene from another angle:

"Stopping by My Woods"

Which poet this is I think I know,
that drives his sleigh by in the snow
and stops to watch it fill my wood,
and then moves on -- I seen him go.

I'd ride more often if I could,
and catch him in that neighborhood.
But I'm too busy tendin' store
and scrapin' up a livelihood.

I bought that farm in twenty-four
but we don't live out there no more.
Can't make a livin' off that land
with prices nowdays, that's for sure.

That feller thinks the snow's so grand,
but wouldn't never lend a hand
to shovel off the village's
sidewalks and steps, I understand.

Oh, by the way, my business is
in feed and grain, and harnesses.
But he don't never come on down
to feed that spooky horse of his.

He ain't got time to stick around,
'cause for another place he's bound,
with miles to go beyond our town --
yup, miles to go beyond our town.

Copyright 2002 Richard Leonard

The person stopping in the woods is Death. He knows the owner of the woods, and it's not time to call on him yet. He has other people to visit and duties to perform. But he yearns for rest himself. Death desires death. He is envious of the living in that they can look forward to his visit and rest. He pauses longingly to think of escape from his burden, and then continues on his way.

I love robert frost! Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening and the road not taken are my favorite poems, I think they're connected to each other. Both about suicide, the road not taken being the one where he gives in and stopping by the woods on a snowy evening being the one where he reconsiders for a while.

AS for Mary Hartery's response to this simple poem, she may be correct in stating that frost's life was long and prosperous. However, Frost's daughter committed suicide in Frost's lifetime, and his wife was placed in a mental institution. It is quite possible that Frost would have written on the topic of suicide at some point in his career; in fact it is almost certain.
Personally, I think the poem is about contemplating suicide. The man could sleep in the woods, metaphorically ending his life. Death to this man is therefore portrayed as beautiful dark and deep. The only thing keeping him going are his promises, which he feels that he must keep.