“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.”

There are many “near greats” in the field of prose and poetry but only a blessed few “greats,”…a few icons,…a few splendid writers whose prose and poetry have impacted mankind in such a way as to influence and affect men and women and to move them to action that benefits mankind as a whole.  Such a great poet was Robert Frost.

The idea for “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” came to American poet Robert Frost (1874–1963) near dawn one morning in the dead of the winter of 1922.  Mr Frost had been laboring after a long night spent at his farmhouse in Shaftsbury, Vermont, composing another poem, entitled “New Hampshire.”  Frost claimed to have written “Stopping by Woods” in just a few minutes.  As is often the case, when inspiration comes into the heart and mind  of the great authors,…a silent power seems to flow out of their heart and into their pen and then automatically onto the paper.  Such was what actually happened to Robert Frost in the early dawn hours in Vermont.  Both of these two above-mentioned poems were published in a single volume entitled “New Hampshire” in 1923.

“Stopping by Woods” is composed entirely by words of one syllable (89 of them) or two syllables (16 of them) except for the single three-syllable word, “promises.”  The poem uses a rhyme scheme of a-a-b-a, with the next verse’s “a” line rhyming with the previous verse’s “b” line.  Its iambic tetrameter meter (da DUM/ da DUM/ da DUM/ da DUM) imitates the gentle and rhythmical clopping of a horse’s hoof beats–which is completely appropriate, since the occasion is that the speaker has stopped his horse drawn sleigh to meditate on a dark woods during a snowy winter night.  

When one knows from study, education, and experience, what the words truly mean and how they are best used to communicate their intended meaning,…the best of all worlds comes forth into a great master piece of poetry.  Now, of course, the opposite is also true.  Words misunderstood or     used improperly have a devastating effect on the minds of the readers or listeners on which these incorrect usages fall.  In short, if a piece of documented communication is work to listen to or read, no one will attempt to read it or listen to it.  Good prose or poetry is savored and enjoyed and it will always bless the recipient.

Permit me to tell you that the many ne’r-do-great authors of prose and poetry simply write their words and tell a story in the process.  The few “Greats” go far beyond that type of effort.  These great type people tell their story through their words, but they also tell a second and sometimes a third story “in-between” their written or spoken lines.  The person who knows and understands our English language and how it is to be properly used and applied and who is well educated about many subjects will always grasp these additional meanings and stories.   

Although the poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” can be read and appreciated at its surface level, simply as a beautifully crafted meditation on a snowy winter night, it is often interpreted and taught as having two different levels of meaning.  The owner’s “house” in the village could refer to either a human owner of the land the woods sits on or to a church, the “house” of God–the owner of the earth and everything in it.

The next-to-last line, “And miles to go before I sleep,” is thought to refer to the literal sleep awaiting the poet at the end of the night’s journey, while the repeat of this sentence in the last line refers to the sleep of death, which the speaker, finds a lulling tempting prospect.

Although his poem “The Road Not Taken” is arguably just as well known, Frost called “Stopping by Woods”–a mere 16 lines –his “best bid for remembrance.”  Bearing out his words, this poem, “Stopping by Woods” is one of the most widely discussed of all Robert Frost’s work.

Learn More, Know More, and Become More……………….