We live in Michigan, and right now it is cold and very snowy. Ray's Beatle tune ("Little darlin,' it's been a long,cold, lonely winter...") reminded me of the joy of nature, thus inspiring me to take this video out by the sand dunes today. As you read the poem, one of the loveliest ever written, imagine the sound of the wind in the trees.
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.
8 comments:
I'VE ALWAYS LIKED THAT POEM. IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITES. REMINDS ME OF MY YOUTH IN THE RUSTIC REBLES WOODS.
A great pic with a great poem!
Good job Mama!
Actually, did you know that poem is about contemplating suicide - on the "darkest evening of the year"? "But I have promises to keep" the author says, reminding him that there are "miles to go before I sleep." Knowing that makes it even more beautiful, I think. In those moments when life seems so hard and you just want to give up, these words will come to me and I will think of my family and I say, "But I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep." Gives me a lump in the ol throat.
No I didn't know that, but I will take your word for it because you are more knowledgeable about such things.
I must confess I always wondered about that line. If you've even been in the woods on the darkest evening of the year, you can't see "lovely, dark, and DEEP." You could see a few flakes in front of your face, maybe, but without moonlight even snowy woods are too dark to see deeply, or to gaze into. So I always wondered why he put those lines in. Do you think the loveliness of the woods caused his mood to lift? Nature has those charms.
Whenever things get hard for me, I think, "This too shall pass." And I remember all the things that DID pass. But like you, the words, "And I have promises to keep" resonate with me quite often.
Here is a stanza from one of my favorite poems:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all
-Emily Dickinson
Those are lovely lines. I haven't read much Dickinson, I really should. Have you ever read Renasence by Edna St. Vincent Millay? I once copied it's lines from a recording. "All I could see from where I stood, was three long mountains and a wood..." it goes on to describe a tender soul confronting the horrors of the world....yet, in the end, the soul not only survives, but rises full of hope and joy...it really encouraged me at one time. I guess we all have our favorites, it's great to share!
I love that poem. In choir we did an arrangment in 4 part harmony. It was beautiful.
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