Robert Frost and me (1): Stopping by Woods

Robert Frost Speaks to Me and in Me (1):

"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.

Thoughts

I am not quite sure why this poem came to me now. Winter is approaching up here in Ultima Thule, snow is falling just inland of me. But that is not really it. It is something about the final stanza or couplet. About being underway, moving towards something, while leaving something behind. It is a push as well as a pull. I dread what I am leaving and look forward to what lies ahead.

Lars T Soeftestad

Notes
(1) This article was adapted from a post on Facebook.
(2) Image credit: Fred Palumbo, World Telegram staff photographer - Library of Congress. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection, at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c20742, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1273935
(3) Relevant Devblog articles: "Robert Frost and Me (2): The Road Not Taken", at: https://devblog.no/en/article/robert-frost-and-me-2-road-not-taken | "Promises to keep" at: https://www.devblog.no/en/article/promises-keep
(4) Permalink. URL: https://devblog.no/en/article/robert-frost-and-me-1-stopping-woods
(5) This article was published 7 October 2019.

Source
Frost. Robert. "Stopping by woods on a Snowy Evening", at: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening