We’re getting our first appreciable snow of the season tonight, and one of my friends on Facebook mentioned this poem. It’s always been one of my favorites and seems entirely appropriate for my post of the day. I hope you enjoy this poem as much as I do.
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.
Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” from The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem. Copyright 1923
Surprisingly this poem is not in any of the Kindle anthologies of his poetry, but it is in a more general anthology (101 Great American Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)) I bought. I’m not sure I would call this the be-all-end-all collections of American poetry, it does cover many of the poems considered to be classics. Decent anthology for anyone even remotely interested in poetry.