what did he imagine to do ?
1- going home
2- ambush the red coats
3- go on a hunt
4- rob a bank


Stopping by Woods on 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.

what comes to your mind ?

P.

I think he was going home.

He was born in a time and place when hunting was a necessity for most folks, and he farmed at one time in his life, so I imagine he was a hunter.

Ed

He was lost and his horse thought he was queer.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...."

Where does yella wood come from?

I think that one of the things that Mrs. Mefferd was tryihg to get through my thick head back in English class was that a poem truly accomplishes its task when it leaves interpretation open to each person who reads it. Rather than "What is the poet saying?" the question that we were to address was "What do you take away from this poem?".

but this poem has been used in JFK eulogy , what is the relation ?

P.

"Home" could be short-term or long-term. In the former, he could be someone, say a country doctor, who must complete a task before returning to the comforts of home. In the latter, perhaps he is speaking of life and its struggles before going "home" to the peace of eternal rest.

It can be taken in the context of a long journey, not finished, the rider (writer) alone out in the cold as JFK was.

JFK was NOT mainstream Democrat, in fact, he was the antithesis of the burgeoning socialist movement within the Democratic Party.
His line "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" was exactly the opposite of what the Dems needed to bring the African American population into the Dem fold and subjugate them.

I believe that JFK's plans were what got him killed then LBJ succeeded him and moved the socialist agenda forward.

Ed

Wherever he was going, it appears that he was trespassing.

Must of been a Texan. Lol.

Delivery person making a pit stop.

Too much opium for that guy.

A man enjoying the quietness and beauty of God's nature!

City folks don't know about it!!

to me this has always been a subversive poem.

or may be he was seeing another woman.

P.

One of my favorite poems, by my favorite poet.

Here are some thoughts about it.

I'll have what that reviewer is smoking.

Prolly wouldn't hurt.

I remember a time and place when and where such was accepted.

Yeah, when trespassers didn't leave beer bottles, trash and port-a-potties all over the property.

Very true - there was mutual respect on both sides; rather than trespassers, they were called friends and neighbors.

It's one of those "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" situations. I'm guessing landowners starting getting pissy when they felt violated.

I thought somewhere in it it said, "Follow the road, till it comes to a Y, take it."

A couple Frost poems they did NOT have us read in highschool.

Out, Out

The Last Red

Look them up

Poetry of good old hard working americans.

And I am old enough to not have as many miles to go.

Obviously the poem is beyond the understanding of some shallow thinkers

Phyllus in, Einstein.

Must have been a well seasoned Pennsylvania hunter.

He was contemplating death. That's all.

Life can be summed up as a tension between romance and finance. He is justifying to himself, as we all do, his momentary surrender to romance.

Funny how we never feel it neccesary when we choose finance over romance.

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
- Robert Frost


I think he probably meant it, too.

he and his horse, and carriage were perfectly legit to be sitting there in a snowstorm. it was a legal by-way/highway. he was well within his rights to slow down, stop and observe before progressing one single, solitary step forward.

Yeah, but he was looking into private property, which is probably an offense.

yes, for nearly certain it is now; but, was it then?

we use to share space in our rural community no matter how much acreage each freelander, farmer, landowner claimed & paid taxes on. not any more. the landlines and therefore the fence lines have become sacred.

but, back in those days, the "roads" had not yet been taken over (usurped?) by organized gov't. yes?

Almost my new signature!

almost mine as well. but there's a competing alternative view:

greed versus fear. that part is alive & well, and rings loud.

but i like the choice of finance versus romance better. why can't we have both to some degree?

Nailed it.

Whose woods are these?
I think I know,
His house is in the suburbs, though.
He will not catch me stopping here
To cut his fence and poach his deer.

Bob Frosty
'Merica's Poet

This^^^^^^^^^^

This was most of rural America 80 years ago. He wasn't "going" anywhere. He stopped to admire God's world. He realized how fortunate he was to experience the moments he had, right then. The quietness of a snowfall, the relationship to his horse, and his need to move on. Frost was the guy that said "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors". Frost was a good man.

Good of you to say so. Cheers, friend!