My take on my Favorite poem

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

BY ROBERT FROST

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.

My Take



There is a lot of debate about whether the poem was about Robert Frost himself, walking out after spending the whole night working on one of his other poems or was it about someone else entirely.
And then there's the debate of whether the poem was to be seen as a glimmer of hope or a man contemplating suicide.

 But I have promises to keep,
 And miles to go before I sleep,
 And miles to go before I sleep.

The last lines of this poem is seen as the man, deciding to continue to live as he must keep his promises before he sleeps, i.e. die. Other see it only for what it is: that he must return back to his work and earn his sleep.

So which is it?

In my opinion, I have always read this poem for what it is rather than what it may be underlying. This has been my favorite poem ever since I read it first in school, because I always pictured a man taking a walk in the woods and appreciating the beauty of the nature around him- of the woods, the frozen lakes and the dark evening. And then I imagined him realizing it was late and that he had been so distracted by the beauty surrounding him that he had forgotten that he was to be someplace else.
To me the last lines meant only this- that he would return to appreciate the winter beauty of the woods again but that he must go back home and to his commitments.