If you arrived here harried and harangued, or feeling hollow. . . .

 

YOU ARE INVITED TO SLOW DOWN AND STOP. . .

. . . to contemplate Frost’s Stopping by a Woods on a Snowy Evening. This rendition features a Lego character with a German-speaking narrator:

 

 

And in full text:

 

My take:

A man and his horse are proceeding through a woods on a snowy evening. The narrator, maybe Frost himself, probably has dismounted his horse, all the better to pause and observe the beauty of the falling snow flakes and the cold, calm of winter.

Frost, who lived to be 88, wrote this poem in 1922 when he was 48 years old. While he may have been contemplating death, as some critics suggest, perhaps he was simply observing one cycle of the seasons, the haunting beauty of winter. For him in the northern hemisphere, this season was a time of monochromatic beauty. Paused momentarily, he proceeds on his way, because he assures himself, “I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.”

His parting words suggest both commitment, “I have promises to keep.” and purpose: “I have miles to go before I sleep.”

 

LOOK. . .

Dreamstime, free image

 

Botanists and foresters report that during winter, boughs of some evergreen trees, like fir, retract during a snowstorm. This miracle of nature enables the branches to bear the weight of the snow without breaking.

 

The Fir Tree in All Seasons

Hosea 14:8   TLB  ‘I am like an evergreen tree, yielding my fruit to you throughout the year.”

 

Isaiah 14:8

Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.

 

Isaiah 55:13

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

 

LISTEN. . .

Frost’s poem suggests two sounds: the bells on the horse’s harness and the wisp of wind through the trees.

The Turtle Creek Chorale does not record these sounds but does set Frost’s soothing words to harmonious music!

 

Ah, it’s good to slow down and stop . . .
. . . I feel better too, now. . .

 


How do you soothe yourself in winter? Or, in any stressful season?

What memories of winter and snow does Frost’s poem evoke?

***

Some other soothing suggestions for you on my blog, Do You Know How to Hygge?

And also here.

 

Oh, by the way, Happy Groundhog Day! A date that could be written as 2.2.22