Maun Sadhu Head & Assistant Professor Department of English C.U. Shah Institute of Computer Application C.U. Shah Institute of Science maunsadhu@gmail.com

1. Stopping by
Woods on a
Snowy Evening
By
Robert Frost
Maun Sadhu
Head & Assistant Professor
Department of English
C.U. Shah Institute of Science
C.U. Shah Institute of Computer Application

2. BEST FOR You
O R G A N I C S C O M P A N Y
(March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) 2
Robert Frost
 An American poet.
 His work was initially published in
England before it was published in the
United States.
 Known for his realistic depictions of
rural life and his command of American
colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote
about settings from rural life in New
England in the early 20th century, using
them to examine complex social and
philosophical themes.
Maun Sadhu

3. 1W hose woods these are I think I know.
2His house is in the village though;
3He will not see me stopping here
4To watch his woods fill up with snow.
5My little horse must think it queer
6To stop without a farmhouse near
7Between the woods and frozen lake
8The darkest evening of the year.
9He gives his harness bells a shake
10To ask if there is some mistake.
11The only other sound’s the sweep
12Of easy wind and downy flake.
13The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
14But I have promises to keep,
15And miles to go before I sleep,
16And miles to go before I sleep.
The speaker thinks about who owns the woods that he or she is
passing through, and is fairly sure of knowing the landownaer.
However, the owner's home is far away in the village, and thus he
is physically incapable of seeing the speaker pause to watch the
snow fall in the forest.
The speaker thinks his or her horse must find it strange to stop so
far from any signs of civilization. Indeed, they are surrounded
only by the forest and a frozen lake, on the longest night of the
year.
The horse shakes the bells on its harness, as if asking if the
speaker has made a mistake by stopping. The only other sound
besides the ringing of these bells is that of the wind and falling
snowflakes, which the speaker likens to the feathers of goose
down.
The speaker finds the woods very alluring, drawn both to their
darkness and how vast and all-encompassing they seem. However,
the speaker has obligations to fulfill elsewhere. Thus, though he or
she would like to stay and rest, the speaker knows there are many
more miles to go before that will be possible
Maun Sadhu

4. BEST FOR You
O R G A N I C S C O M P A N Y
Structureandstyle
 The poem is written in iambic tetrameter in the
Rubaiyat stanza created by Edward FitzGerald
who adopted the style from Hakim Omar
Khayyam, the 12th-century Persian poet and
mathematician.
 Each verse (save the last) follows an AABA
rhyming scheme, with the following verse's A line
rhyming with that verse's B line, which is a chain
rhyme (another example is the terza rima used in
Dante’s
 Overall, the rhyme scheme is
AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD.
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Maun Sadhu

5. BEST FOR You
O R G A N I C S C O M P A N Y
Themes
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Nature vs. Society
Social Obligation vs. Personal Desire
Hesitation and Choice
Maun Sadhu

6. Maun Sadhu
maunsadhu@gmail.com
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