Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
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 mistakẹ
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flakẹ
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.
Robert Frost
Notes:
Like most of Frost's poems, 'Stopping By Woods' can be read on several
levels[1]. And, again like most of his poems, you can ignore them all, and still enjoy the surface meaning, which is beautifully evocativẹ Just below the surface there is the sleep/death metaphor, and the undercurrent of gentle longing for death tinges the surface with a melancholy that reinforces and plays off the night and winter images.
Formwise, note the predominance of soft, sibilant sounds, evoking the 'sweep of easy wind and downy flaké. Note also the lovely rhyme scheme[2], aaba bbcb, and the repetition of the final line, which provides closure at several different levels.
[1] some of them incredibly contrived and/or ingenious - load up
Dừng Bên Rừng Vắng Đêm Rơi Tuyết
Rừng của ai đây hẳn biết rồi
Nhà chàng trong xóm khá xa xôi
Chàng không thể thấy tôi đừng lại
Nhìn ngắm rừng cây trắng tuyết rơi
Ngựa hẳn phân vân chủ lạ kỳ
Đồng không nông trại đứng mà chi
Giữa nơi rừng vắng, hồ băng giá
Một buổi trong năm tối nhất nhì
Lục lặc reo vang ngựa vùng vằng
Như thầm hỏi vặn có sai chăng
Ngoài âm thanh đó là cơn gió
Cùng với tiếng rơi tuyết rớt những tầng
Rừng vắng xinh thương, tối, thẳm sâu
Bao lời tôi hứa dục trong đầu
Bao nhiêu dặm nữa rồi ngơi nghỉ
Những dặm xa xôi trước ngả đầu
Nguyên Đỗ
(Phỏng thơ)
