Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

 

When I asked Library staff members to share their favorite poems, I got submissions from two Robert Frost fans. Perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising; he is one of the truly quintessentially American poets. This poem was written in 1922 and first published in 1923. Do you remember this poem from school?

 

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.