02 May 2013

Dear Frost



A Re-Reading of Robert Frost's  "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"


The Woods are lovely, dark and deep
and I have no promises to keep—
for all I know this may be sleep
saved up from summer and fall
when I had no time to watch at all

Well may these woods fill up with snow
as a cooling and softness before
journey’s end—and though more
day emerges as solstice turns
my heart for rich darkness yearns

Sweep of easy wind and downy flake
help in sighting sound words to use
in telling the tale you now peruse
of retirement with no need for sleep
of joy in memories from the deep.



Posted for Theme Thursday for May 2, 2013 - REJOICE.  Robert Frost's famous poem is below.  Reposted for Open Link Monday at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads in the month of Robert Frost's birthday.


Copyright © 2013 S.L.Chast


Stopping by the 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.


**from The Poetry Foundation



20 comments:

  1. smiles...cool rewrite...must be nice to get to the no promises to keep...smiles...the snow int eh woods is pretty cool aging allusions as well...cool closure on this too susan...

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  2. A pleasure to read. You are one clever woman.

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  3. I love the "woods dark and deep" like a journey into another world. Lovely!

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  4. Your poem is every bit as lovely as Frost's, although I love his horse shaking the bells to question the wisdom of stopping. I'm glad you showed it here, because I'd forgotten most of it, except of course, for "miles to go before I sleep" which everyone remembers.
    I love the way you've used some of his most beautiful lines with such ease and grace.
    K

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    1. Thanks K. I still have "miles to go before I sleep."

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  5. very good...always love to back and read a Frost poem and you should hold your head high because your's was just as good.

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  6. Lovely it was. Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets and this particular poem is one of my favorites. I liked the continuation!

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  7. It makes me really rejoice in snow.

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  8. Hi Susan,

    So glad you came back, sorry I was sick again. All of us in the house are so sick and everyone is sleeping a lot, well mostly me, since I am the sickest as always. Anyway that was truly as good as his. I too like the continuation and how you turned it into your poem. And how true it is about not having all those promises to keep once we retire. I can see why so many retirees get part time work once they retire. We need something to do each day. Something to look forward to instead of just sleeping.

    Thanks for coming back and sharing such a great poem with us for this weeks Theme Thursday. We rejoice in your return. I hope your week is filled with enough sleep and enough darkness to help. But may you also be blessed with lots of beautiful spring sunshine and warmth.

    God bless.

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  9. being a Frost fan this was very appealing.. you hit the mark perfectly Susan...

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  10. So nice tribute to snow, to Frost/frost...it's really we have to be thankful for any seasons...~ Enjoyed! xx

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  11. So beautiful, you have captured his voice to perfection, yet added your own beauty to it. Lovely to read, to envision, and to resonate with.

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  12. I like the way you incorporated some of Frost's lines into your own piece about winter and growing old, knowing the richness of memory.

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  13. Thank you for introducing me to Robert Frost.
    Is there a name for the aaba bbcb form that he uses here?
    You interwove your lines into his. Very pleasing.

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  14. It's easy to become a fan of your poetry Susan and your person. You're a wonderful woman.

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  15. what a lovely tribute to Frost....I specially like the second stanza and 'my heart for rich darkness yearns'...

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  16. ahhhh - love this, Susan ~

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  17. Three borrowed lines a poem Susan makes
    retirement with no need for sleep, hers
    still though, there're miles to go before we sleep

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  18. I think its great how you use the lines by Frost as tools for tempering your own thought -- intertextuality (as the academics call it) is always a conversation, and a great poem is frequently productive of equally great ladders into the clouds. The artifact as aqueduct. The response here uses the lines as equidistant balancing poles of some distillation of heart (and art).

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