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.
Each year my church puts together a Lenten devotional. This year's Lenten devotional is titled Promises to Keep. Obviously my English major is worthless since I didn't correlate the title of the devotional with the Frost poem. Today when our church service was opened with the poem, I finally realized the connection. It made me a bit perplexed because I have never enjoyed this poem and always enjoy the devotional.
Actually a colleague and I recently had a conversation about this poem which is often used to teach symbolism. I never enjoy teaching the poem. Maybe it's because it seems to be part of every seventh grade anthology. Maybe it's because sharing a poem that says, "the horse must think it's queer" with seventh graders always brings a snicker. Maybe it's because I always question the old white male literature that was forced on me as a student. I wish I could express why I don't enjoy this poem.
Since it was used to open our service today, I decided to take another look at the poem and my "promises to keep." I do like the last stanza, but I still don't really enjoy the poem. Our service, using this poem and the covenant story of Noah, did cause me to think of my "promises to keep." We were asked to write our promise on a rainbow colored strip of paper (Noah's covenant story) and put it in a wall, similar to the wall in The Secret Life of Bees. I wrote three promises for Lent on my paper: be present, be kind, and be peaceful.
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.
Each year my church puts together a Lenten devotional. This year's Lenten devotional is titled Promises to Keep. Obviously my English major is worthless since I didn't correlate the title of the devotional with the Frost poem. Today when our church service was opened with the poem, I finally realized the connection. It made me a bit perplexed because I have never enjoyed this poem and always enjoy the devotional.
Actually a colleague and I recently had a conversation about this poem which is often used to teach symbolism. I never enjoy teaching the poem. Maybe it's because it seems to be part of every seventh grade anthology. Maybe it's because sharing a poem that says, "the horse must think it's queer" with seventh graders always brings a snicker. Maybe it's because I always question the old white male literature that was forced on me as a student. I wish I could express why I don't enjoy this poem.
Since it was used to open our service today, I decided to take another look at the poem and my "promises to keep." I do like the last stanza, but I still don't really enjoy the poem. Our service, using this poem and the covenant story of Noah, did cause me to think of my "promises to keep." We were asked to write our promise on a rainbow colored strip of paper (Noah's covenant story) and put it in a wall, similar to the wall in The Secret Life of Bees. I wrote three promises for Lent on my paper: be present, be kind, and be peaceful.
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