Robert Frost can give one a lot to think about in few words. Often he has several levels of meaning with one descriptive scene. In "The Road Not Taken" the reader knows that this poem is about more than a momentary walk in the woods. Life's choices are often final.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Many of Frost's poems have a rural setting. In "The Pasture" he writes about the chores that a farmer must do. The speaker seems to think that the reader might want to accompany him and invites the reader to go with him.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young
It totters when she licks it with her tongue,
I sha'n't be gone long. -- You come too.

In "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening" Frost goes far beyond the Christmas card scene. Readers have found "meanings" in this poem ranging from the contemplation of suicide to the obligations of life and to momentary appreciation of nature. Regardless of one's interpretation, most readers find a personal meaning in the last stanza.

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.

© 2001 to 2008  Franklin L. Jensen
All Rights Reserved.
All Original Works Property of Franklin L. Jensen