Points for discussion
Hello dear readers,
Today, I will be discussing all the important points of ” stopping by woods on a snowy evening” by Robert Frost. I ensure you will get a complete idea to write the summary, central idea and explanation of the poem in a well and organised manner. You will be able to write the specification and figure of speech used in this poem too. After reading this page you will find the secret to score outstanding marks in the board examination. Let’s get started
Layout: Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening
- About the Poet
- Short Intro of the poem and Contextualization
- Stanza-wise Explanation
- Relevant Quotes
- Summary Of The Poem (English and Hindi)
- Central Idea Of the Poem
- Video Clip For proper Understanding
- What is Special In this Poem (figure of speech and theme etc.)
- Moral Of the Poem
- Keywords to identify the Reference
About the Poet
Robert Lee Frost was born 26 March 1874, San Francisco, California, United States an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in America. He had been a very prolific poet and philosopher. He achieved the greatest (Robert Frost Medal, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry) award in America for his outstanding work in American literature. he studied at Harvard University (1897–1899), Dartmouth College. (Wikipedia)
Introduction: Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening
The poet had left a question regarding this poem. Critics are still not sure whether this poem depicts Frost’s experience or event of another person. He is talking about a journey where the passenger is tempted by the beauty of nature and wish to stay there for some time. Soon he realises that he has to cover a long distance. To stay for some time may divert him from his goal/ destination. This poem has been the favourite poem of the Visionary person in the world. Even the first Prime Minister of India Pt.Nehru got the motivation from this poem and had been sticky with the purpose of his life.
Reference|Context|Explanation|
Stanza 1
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
Reference: These lines have been taking from the poem ‘Stopping By Woods on Snowy Evening’, composed By American Poet Robert Frost
Context: The poet was moving toward his home one evening and stopped at a place to witness the beauty of nature.
Explanation
The poet is riding on his horse when he passes through a forest. He is tempted to spend more time on the woods to witness the snowfall. He is aware that the owner of the place leaves far away from there, so he will not come to know about his visit.
The poet relaxes and enjoys the beauty of nature and the snowfall. He wants to spend more time and freeze the beautiful surroundings.
Keywords and Quick Points
- Poet is tempted by the beautiful nature of woods
- he guesses the master of the woods might be far away from there
- Poet gets a cool wind and tastes a pleasant nature for a while.
If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects.
Albert Einstein
Stanza 2
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.
context: The traveler poet was tempted to watch the boats and is snowfall in the middle of his journey. He wanted to appreciate nature. But, he thinks that his horse might find its strange to stop in the midway.
Explanation
The poet says that he wants to spend some time in the forest to witness is snowfall. But, he thinks that his horse might find it strange to stop in the forest in the middle of the journey without any reason.
Moreover, there was no farmhouse nearby. It is dark winter evening. Perhaps the darkest evening of the year. Everything was covered with snow and the lake was frozen. He wanted to enjoy the beauty of nature.
Keywords and Quick Points
- His horse feel strange to stop at an odd place so it queer and ring its harness bell
- It was the darkest wind of the year and cool, snowy
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can not help them at least don’t hurt them
Dalai Lama
Stanza 3
He gives his harness bell a shake
To ask if there is something mistake.
The only other sound is the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake
Context: The poet says that the horse might find it strange to stop without reaching the destination.
Explanation
The poet says that the horse shakes his bells to ask his master if he had made a mistake by stopping in the middle of the journey. Generally, the traveler stops near a farmhouse, so the horse was curious to know why he had stopped near the woods.
Moreover, the atmosphere was calm and composed. One could only hear the jingling of bells and the blowing of winds through trees and of the snowflakes falling on the trees.
Immature wishes to achieve desires but mature one desires to achieve one’s goals.
Unknown
Keywords and Quick Points
- horse shakes its bell to ask the master if he is at the wrong stay
- the place was cold, dark and deserted, not suitable to stay for a moment
- there were snowflakes and cold winds were blowing
Stanza 4
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.
Context: The poet wanted to enjoy the beauty and peaceful atmosphere of the forest day. He wanted to spend more time appreciating the surrounding but he couldn’t do it.
Explanation
The poet appreciates the surroundings by saying that the woods are lovely, dark, and deep. He wants to spend more time in a peaceful forest. He loves the dark evening, snowfalls and forest. Though he wants to stay there for sometimes, but he has to fulfill many duties and responsibilities back home.
He can’t escape from discharging his duties. He has made some promises which he has to keep against his own desires. He has to cover a long way before reaching his destination. There will be lots of temptation in life like this but he has to keep moving forward.
Our greatest duty and our main responsibility are to help others. But if you cannot help them, would you please not hurt them.
Dalai Lama
Keywords and Quick Points
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- hdjjfkf
- gfhf
Summary: Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening
In this poem “Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening”, the speaker seems he is travelling through the dark snowy forest and take a short stay with his horse near the woods.
He observes falling snow around him. His horse shakes his harness bell (the bell hanging in horse’s neck), questioning unexpected pause there; perhaps this place isn’t on their usual route, or he’s curious that there doesn’t appear to be a farmhouse nearby.
The speaker is tempted by the nature of woods, attracted by the deep, dark silence of his surroundings. He feels compelled to manoeuvre. But he finally decides to continue his journey to get to the destination.
Concluding this poem, he penned down a philosophical and motivational line i.e “miles to go before I sleep, miles to go before I sleep”. It denotes that the speaker has a promise to people to meet. It might be interpreted as a great dream to achieve for his society or the nation country.
Hindi Translation: Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening
इस कविता में, वक्ता गहरे बर्फीले जंगल के माध्यम से यात्रा कर रहा है और जंगल के पास अपने घोड़े के साथ एक छोटा प्रवास करता है। वह अपने चारों ओर गिरती हुई बर्फ को देखता है।
उसका घोड़ा अपनी हार्नेस घंटी (घोड़े की गर्दन में लटका हुआ घंटी) को हिलाता है, वहां अप्रत्याशित विराम पर सवाल उठाता है; शायद यह जगह उनके सामान्य मार्ग पर नहीं है, या वह उत्सुक है कि पास में कोई फार्महाउस दिखाई नहीं देता है।
वक्ता अपने आस-पास की गहरी खामोशी से आकर्षित होकर, जंगल की प्रकृति से आकर्षित होता है। वह युद्धाभ्यास के लिए मजबूर महसूस करता है। लेकिन वह आखिरकार गंतव्य (goal) तक पहुंचने के लिए अपनी यात्रा जारी रखने का फैसला करता है।
इस कविता को sumarise karte huyw, उन्होंने एक दार्शनिक और प्रेरक पंक्ति का वर्णन किया “यानी कि मैं सोने से पहले मीलों तक जाऊं, मैं सोने से पहले जाऊं”। यह दर्शाता है कि स्पीकर के पास लोगों से मिलने का वादा है। इसे अपने समाज या राष्ट्र देश के लिए एक महान सपने के रूप में समझा जा सकता है।
Note: Hindi version is a machine translation. It may be senseless so you are recommended to go through the English version.
Central Idea: Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening
“Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening” starts with the style of monologue. The very main idea of this poem is to awake the people who are easily distracted from the purpose of their life.
It is addressing the people who are readily tempted by any attraction, object, or people. This poem tells us how we should prioritize and manage the things which are attached to our life.
In the last stanza, the poet beautifully addresses the people to give priority on the goal of life
Video Clip on Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening
For more understanding, we add here a video clip. You can visualise this poem easily.
Note: This video is absolutely separate and has no connection in terms of monetizing our website. So it will open in new tab. Soon we will provide our own videos for the learners.
What is Special in this Poem?
- Written in Monologue Style
- Personification (the horse is used as HE)
- Imagery (readers may easily visualise the setting of the poem)
- Description of the attractive nature (snowy evening)
- The theme of the poem: giving priorities on great values. The attraction of an object or things must not be considered as a primary goal.
Moral Of the Poem: Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening
The purpose of your existence must be for the service of mankind. And the service of mankind is the true service of God.