ThemeOn the surface, this poem seems very simple and straightforward, but with closer inspection one can clearly see that it is much more than a trip to the woods. This poem is notorious for being one that can be interpreted in so many different ways. To me, this poem reflected the struggle of decisions, or simply put - choices. The man in the poem clearly enjoys nature’s splendor and is drawn to it. The nature is like his release from the real world, the world in which he has responsibilities, debts, and burdens. He talks about being “between the woods and frozen lake on the darkest evening of the year”, which signifies that he is troubled and is struggling with some sort of choice due to the burdens of the real world. Maybe he just lost his job and is contemplating on whether to return to his home and tell his family, maybe his wife just left him and he can’t decide on whether to go after her or let her go. The “lovely, deep, dark woods” are inviting and comforting and remove him from his actually reality and the sadness that it brings, acting as a form of therapy. This theme of the difficulty of choices is reiterated to me when he talks himself into the “right” decision in the last stanza. Although he would wish for nothing more than to stay and enjoy the beauty that nature offers, he knows that he has other responsibilities in reality, whether that be to his family, his friends, or even to himself. He realizes that although there are bad days, there are also good ones, and that he has so much more life left in him and to just give up on the people in his life or himself is not worth it. There is too much time left in life to give in and give up now, so he lifts himself up and carries on knowing tomorrow will bring a better day.
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Subject/Summary |
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. |