“ The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep. ”
- Robert Frost
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
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.
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is regarded as Frost's masterpiece.
The speaker, while traveling on horseback (or in a horse-drawn sleigh) on the darkest evening of the year, stops to watch the woods fill up with snow. He thinks the owner of these woods is someone who lives in the village and will not see the speaker stopping on his property. While the speaker continues to gaze into the snowy woods, his little horse impatiently shakes the bells of its harness. The speaker describes the beauty and allure of the woods as “lovely, dark, and deep,” but reminds himself that he must not remain there, for he has “promises to keep,” and a long journey ahead of him.
Below is the the hindi translation of the last stanza of the original master piece by Harivansh Rai Bachchan
गहन सघन मनमोहक वन तरु मुझको आज बुलाते हैं,
किन्तु किये जो वादे मैंने याद मुझे वोह आते हैं,
अभी कहाँ आराम बड़ा यह मूक निमंत्रण छलना हैं,
अरे अभी तो मीलों मुझको , मीलों मुझको चलना ।
