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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (1923)
- r9295 2y agoI assume every English teacher of quality must have gone through this poem with their class. Mine certainly did! This reminds me, I should write to her and thank her for introducing me to such enchantment
- desi_ninja 2y agoEvery English speaking school in India has this poem for class 9 or 10th. So every English speaking indian of 14-50 range knows this poem
- keepamovin 2y agoRight! Interesting that many good answers on Quora regarding this poem are from English speaking Indians - as least going by the posters' names.
- layer8 2y agoPoet name checks out. ;)
- strictnein 2y agoIt is quite remarkable how his name is absolutely a perfect match for his most well known poem.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- chimpanzee 2y agoTo anyone new to poetry, you’ll gain much more from the poem by reading it aloud rather than silently. Other tips: https://www.poetryoutloud.org/tips-on-reciting https://www.poetryoutloud.org/tips-on-reciting
- adzm 2y agoFor those looking for more poets that have a similar feel to Robert Frost, I can recommend Gary Snyder and Sydney Lea
- ckmate-king-2 2y agoHighly recommend John Ciardi's essay on this poem, "Robert Frost: The Way to the Poem" (1958). https://issues.aperture.org/article/1958/3/3/robert-frost-the-way-to-the-poem https://issues.aperture.org/article/1958/3/3/robert-frost-th...
- davidanekstein 2y agoReading that made me want to revisit Pale Fire
- glennonymous 2y agoIndeed. I was the shadow of the waxwing slain/by the false azure in the windowpane...
- paulgregorylang 2y agoThis was incredible. Thank you for sharing this.
- baggy_trough 2y agoWow, great article. It really helped me understand the poem better. I'm not very good at analyzing these things.
- 01100011 2y agoThe allusion to trespassing makes me thankful I live in the western US where much more of the land is public. I don't know why that's my takeaway from reading this, but there you have it.
- gausswho 2y agoHaving lived bi-coastally, I agree this is an idiosyncratic distinction between east and west. Particularly northeast and west. And we have great mounds of thinkers who have raised the thought. Thoreau. Steinbeck. Kesey. How wonderful it is to walk into woods and cliffs by compass and pack. No deeds or POSTED signs. No orange toque as deference to hunters. Yet the coast of Maine is mostly parceled off to old money. Mill towns evaporate into poisoned ghosts. And Adirondack Park defenders chattle on about 'public-private partnerships' as if the National Park system was never conceived.
- titanomachy 2y agoWhere did you pick up “toque”? I always thought that was a distinctly Canadian usage.
- gausswho 2y agoMany don't know that part of Canada secretly exists in northern NY and VT.
- prescriptivist 2y ago> Yet the coast of Maine is mostly parceled off to old money. I live half a mile from the Maine coast and when I look around I don’t see any old money in my neighborhood. If you are talking about literally a house overlooking the ocean, that’s always been prized real estate.
- gausswho 2y agoI do mean the coast, and it does sadden me how little of it is publicly accessible, compared to the Pacific coast.
- archiepeach 2y agoHumble plug for the poetry app I created for iOS. The Poetry Corner is written in React Native, and contains over 40,000 public-domain poems, and surfaces the classics in a beautiful and distraction free design! https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-poetry-corner/id1602552624 https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-poetry-corner/id1602552624
- gausswho 2y agoThis is just what I needed as I stare out the snowy window scene. A request: would be nice if it did not constrain to the dimensions of a phone when on an iPad. Thanks!
- david_shaw 2y agoThis is one of my favorite poems -- perhaps because it was my first in-depth exposure to poetry. In high school, I was assigned a poetry explication: it was a combination of poetic analysis and public speaking (I had to deliver my work to the class), and it was a major part of my grade. I chose this poem because it was one of the few poems I'd ever read. I'd never spent much time with poetry, but the hours I dedicated to really thinking about (and feeling) this poem made a lasting impact. I don't remember the grade I got, but the assignment absolutely kindled my lifelong love of poetry. I spend more time on translations of older Chinese poetry these days (I highly recommend Red Pine's translation of Wei Ying-wu's In Such Hard Times), but I'll always remember Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.
- re 2y agoThere have been many settings of this poem to music but the best known one (at least by choral nerds) might be the unauthorized one by Eric Whitacre: https://ericwhitacre.com/music-catalog/sleep https://ericwhitacre.com/music-catalog/sleep A recording with the original lyrics exists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDH5R_BgheI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDH5R_BgheI
- bjterry 2y agoYouTube also has a recording of Robert Frost himself reciting the poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rebVUgCgSAU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rebVUgCgSAU
- imacomputertoo 2y agoNo poem had ever made me feel the crunch of snow under my boots or see the flakes floating down like this poem. It's visceral.
- paulcole 2y ago> The woods are lovely, dark and deep. > But I have promises to keep, > And miles to go before I sleep I’ve been saving up to sponsor a bench on my favorite trail and this is what I’m thinking of putting on the plaque.
- keepamovin 2y agoThat's a great idea! What a marvelous one - a way to honor, but also surprising that no one seems to have thought of it before. Imagine coming across that, would be beautiful.
- jessekv 2y agoThank you to those who occasionally post non-hacking related material here, and everyone else who votes it up. Keeps the place interesting ;)
- kragen 2y agoI dissent from the implication that this poem is non-hacking-related. It is arguably not a hack (though it is certainly a product of ingenuity and achieves a large effect with little resources, but I think other factors weigh against it) but there is no human activity unrelated to, specifically, this poem; and hacking is a human activity, perhaps the most human of all activities.
- endgame 2y agoWho here has never been up late hacking on something and thought "but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep"?
- dentemple 2y agoClearly it was posted here so that we could criticize his work and point out all of the places where <<American English>> fails in comparison to C++ in conveying effective meaning.
- chasil 2y agoThis poem is from the book New Hampshire. Another famous poem from that book is this one: Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44263/fire-and-ice https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44263/fire-and-ice The title poem of the book, New Hampshire, is at least ten pages long, but ends ironically that Frost is living in Vermont.
- rezmason 2y agoSome say the world should take cyanocobalamin, Some say methylcobalamin. From what I’ve tasted of each vitamin I hold with those who favor cyanocobalamin. But if my supplement could have a twin, I think I know enough of niacin To say that for nutrition methylcobalamin Is also great And would fit in.
- nickmp 2y agoWonderful, thank you.
- doctoboggan 2y agoThis is my all time favorite poem simply because it is able to evoke such strong visualizations for me. I can really see the rider so viscerally and no other non visual media is able to replicate that. I don’t really understand how but Robert Frost was on to something that no one else I’ve found was. Seeing this in HN makes me think there are others who feel similar which I think is great. Anyone have similar media that evokes a similar feeling?
- ahazred8ta 2y agoMy friend grew up in Derry a few hundred yards away from the west-running brook.
- infiniteregrets 2y agomy middle school English teacher used to say the last four lines of this poem often, but I never understood why... or maybe I do now
- kevmo 2y agoTurning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
- every 2y agoWilliam Butler Yeats...
- zabzonk 2y agowell, if we are on a wb yeats kick: I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet’s wings. I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
- keepamovin 2y agoMm, classic! Still in a world that sometimes might seem more like that it's nice to have Frost by your side.
- lukego 2y ago_The Ode Less Travelled_ by Stephen Fry could make a great Christmas present.
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y agoI use the last few lines, whenever I'm nearing the end of a coding binge, but don't have the application up to snuff, yet.
- epmoyer 2y agoThis poem has a special place in my heart because I learned it when I was about 10 years old from the TRS-80 "User's Manual For Level 1" book. See page 209! https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/system-80/software-manuals/manuals-Level-1-Users-Manual.pdf https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/system-80/software-manu... That's one of the first programs I ever keyed in. It would print the stanzas out slowly, pausing in between, all the while "snowing" pixels onto the screen. I fell in love with programming then, and it's been magic ever since. Here's to a few more miles...
- domsom 2y agoLacking a TRS 80, YT has it as well: https://youtu.be/j-Zcog5o_p0?si=p-zMq2mnYwcONqmA https://youtu.be/j-Zcog5o_p0?si=p-zMq2mnYwcONqmA
- epmoyer 2y agoThanks! That was very nostalgic to see it running again after all this time.
- pmg101 2y agoI love that in the listing every keyword is abbreviated, even F. for FOR! I lived through the era of type-in BASIC games, and had an 8-bit micro whose BASIC also had abbreviations, but I don't recall seeing magazine listings so vehemently abbreviated!! To save bytes? To save typing? Or... just to seem more l33t ^_^
- otherayden 2y agoRobert frost makes me proud to be from New England. What a beautiful poem
- theodpHN 2y agoGenius vs. Wikipedia: Who explains it better? https://genius.com/816206 https://genius.com/816206 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stopping_by_Woods_on_a_Snowy_Evening https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stopping_by_Woods_on_a_Snowy_E...
- klik99 2y agoLast time I read this was in high school, it hits different at 40, HN is probably the only social media where I can be pleasantly surprised
- ofrzeta 2y agoNo one mentioning the movie "Telefon" (1977) where this poem is used to wake up the sleepers :) This is where I learned of the German translation (watching the movie in German): Des Waldes Dunkel zieht mich an, doch muss zu meinem Wort ich stehen, und Meilen gehen, bevor ich schlafen kann.
- xbar 2y agoNo, many have forgotten it, but it is strangely one of the references that arises for me most quickly because at age 12, my best friend used to quote it from Telefon. I wouldn't read from seriously for several more years yet, and both my friend and I became English lit undergrads.
- AnimalMuppet 2y agoHmm. Can anyone explain why this poem is in the public domain? Lifetime of the author plus 70 years hasn't expired yet. (I'm not trying to hijack the thread into a bunch of "copyright lasts way too long" rants. I'm just curious, if anyone knows.)
- kragen 2y ago95
- ph0rque 2y agoOne of my extremely strange hobbies is writing variations of the last verse of this poem. The posts are lovely, dense and deep, but I have promises to keep, and lines (of code) to write before I sleep, and lines (of code) to write before I sleep. -- The snacks are lovely; tasty-sweet, But I have promises to keep, And hours to fast before I eat, and hours to fast before I eat. -- The chasm is lovely, dark and deep. But you have promises to keep, And years to live before you sleep! And years to live before you sleep.
- keepamovin 2y agoHahaha! :) this is hilarious, and good. Well done!
- arduinomancer 2y agoThe end of this poem always sticks in my head Another good one is The Tyger by Blake https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43687/the-tyger https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43687/the-tyger
- robwwilliams 2y agoHere is a HN friendly poem that we should all know written by Edna St. Vincent Millay at the start of WW2, so also a somewhat cold feel. If you are a data scientist or working in AI, this poem may speak to you like no other. Sonnet from “Huntsman, What Quarry?” Sonnet Upon this age, that never speaks its mind, This furtive age, this age endowed with power To wake the moon with footsteps, fit an oar Into the rowlocks of the wind, and find What swims before his prow, what swirls behind— Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour, Rains from the sky a meteoric shower Of facts . . . they lie unquestioned, uncombined. Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill Is daily spun; but there exists no loom To weave it into fabric; undefiled Proceeds pure Science, and has her say; but still Upon this world from the collective womb Is spewed all day the red triumphant child.
- prirun 2y agoThis poem was set to music by Randall Thompson as part of Frostiana, a collection of Frost poems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3bUzZmoIRA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3bUzZmoIRA
- kopirgan 2y agoLikely his most famous words. Beauty in it's simplicity.
- loughnane 2y agoDef one of the top, but I have to think _The Road Not Taken_ is more famous.
- danecjensen 2y agoI read this poem once, together with someone in her snowy New Hampshire cabin who I was deeply in love with, and it brought me to tears. It’s so beautiful.
- gullywhumper 2y agoWhen my first kid was born, I committed this poem and about a dozen more to memory. In the middle of sleepless nights, and zombie stroller walks, they kept me sane because I felt like I could focus on so little outside of work besides the all-consuming kid. I worried for a little bit what passersby thought when they heard me rambling to myself in the park, but that concern didn’t last long. Almost 4 years later, I’m typing this as I rock my second to sleep, thankful for the reminder to go through my list of poems - surprised how quickly they all came back - and still desperately trying to stay sane. Though it is easier this time around.
- wrp 2y ago> this poem and about a dozen more to memory I hope one of them was Acquainted with the Night. :-)
- keepamovin 2y agoThat’s a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing! :)
- westurner 2y ago"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (1922) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stopping_by_Woods_on_a_Snowy_Evening https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stopping_by_Woods_on_a_Snowy_E...
- CobrastanJorji 2y agoRobert Frost is one of those poets where if I think I understand the poem after one reading, I'm often wrong. This is a great poem, but I don't think it has a particularly hidden meaning. Am I mistaken?
- archagon 2y agoI think that the mantra-like effect of the last two lines plus the mention of unfulfilled promises suggests a certain “call of the void” from the wintery scene. So I think there’s a lurking darkness to the poem behind the surface story of entrancing natural beauty on the way to some engagement. (But I’m not sure if that was Frost’s actual intent.)
- georgeburdell 2y agoYes that’s the read I got as well. He is contemplating letting himself get taken away by lingering too long in the frigid conditions, but then snaps out of it.
- xbar 2y agoFor me, the repetition calls into question the snapping out of it, as though he might yet succumb, hypnotized.
- kcrwfrd_ 2y agoThis poem has always made me think of the contemplation of death or suicide, but “call of the void” is a much better way of putting it.
- kragen 2y agoIt's the standard term in French: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appel_du_vide https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appel_du_vide
- zugi 2y agoFrost said he loved to read the critics' reviews of his poems, so he could learn the meaning behind what he had written.
- loughnane 2y agoI've got a collection of Robert Frost's works and I have my kids recite some of the poems out loud. This is one of the more popular, along with "the road not taken", "the lockless door" and "acquainted with the night". It's a great thing to do; they get to flex their memory, work on enunciating, and experience the pleasure of poetry (best done by reading out loud). Frost's works are well-tuned to it. They speak about nature, which is easy for everyone to understand. And a lot of them have nice soft sounds and pleasant rhythms. Also, The Road Not Taken is probably the most well-known american poem ever, so it's good to be acquainted with it.
- allenu 2y agoIn junior high, we had to memorize and recite a poem in front of the class and this was one of the choices available to us. It's the one I chose, so it holds a special place for me. The teacher who taught our class was probably one of the best teachers I've ever had. She was tough but fair and so you really wanted to impress her 'cause she knew what you were capable of. When you're a teenager, having an adult treat you with respect but call you out when you fell short of your own standards goes a long way.
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- tgorgolione 2y agoI sung an arranged version of this poem as part of my high school's chorus group some time in 2001-2003. As far as I can remember, there wasn't any (or many if at all) changes to the Poem's text.
- ed 2y agoApparently Eric Whitacre (a choral composer popular with high school choirs around 2001-2003) originally wrote Sleep to the lyrics of “Stopping by…” but was sued by Frost’s estate. He can’t release the original until 2038. https://ericwhitacre.com/music-catalog/sleep https://ericwhitacre.com/music-catalog/sleep
- keepamovin 2y agoThe hiddenness of this post today (for people in the northern hemisphere at least) was that I posted it on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, which is the same day that Frost is speaking about in the poem - not sure how many have you recognize that yet? Hopefully it adds to the magic. Merry Christmas! :)
- robocat 2y agoRobert Frost reads "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (1952) - about 25 seconds in: https://youtube.com/watch?v=rebVUgCgSAU https://youtube.com/watch?v=rebVUgCgSAU Plus some opinions by him shortly following his reading of the poem: "... but what I'm interested in is not political freedom: I'm interested in the liberties I take." and his explanation of this.
- jwally 2y agoI've known of this poem for 30 years now (having memorized it in elementary school) - and looking at it 30 years later I spotted something I had never seen before: The rhyming scheme. AABA, BBCB, CCDC, DDDD. Its interlocking with kind of a cheat at the end since the final line is a duplicate. Absolutely beautiful.
- tmoertel 2y agoThe first three stanzas each chain into the following. But the final stanza chains into itself, completing the knot.
- sishyanet 2y agoThe Hindi translation of (part of) this poem is famous in its own right. It was created by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, the most famous Hindi poet of his generation and famous now as the father of Amitabh Bachchan, the actor. The poem and its translation also have a connection to India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. According to Nehru's biographer, this poem - and its Hindi translation - were among the last things that Nehru read before his death in 1967 [1]. The Hindi version is not faithful to the meter of the English verse, but it is in many ways even more beautiful, with every word being deep and sonorous; and it sounds more wonderful when read out because of rhyme and alliteration on nearly every line. The link below contains the translation, and a few notes on why it's so beautiful. [1] https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1672631096956317698 https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1672631096956317698