Robert Frost (1) (1874–1963)

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, illustrated by P.J. Lynch.

The words of the classic poem from Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, written in 1922 and first published in the poet's 1923 New Hampshire collection, are paired in this gorgeous picture book with the watercolor and gouache artwork of Irish illustrator P.J. Lynch. Here the narrator of the poem is a young woman, riding her horse through a snowbound world, and briefly stopping to gaze at a beautiful wood...

I have show more loved this poem since childhood, when I first encountered it in a volume of Frost's poetry taken from my father's shelves, and I have also loved the picture book made of it in 1978 by American artist Susan Jeffers, whose illustrations are a thing of beauty, amplifying the mystery and wonder of these words. That said, I am also a great admirer of P.J. Lynch's work, so when I heard that he had also recently produced a new picture book presentation of this poem, I immediately set out to track it down. I am so glad I did, as I found this new presentation just as (if not slightly more) beautiful than the Jeffers—which is quite an achievement! I think the two artists do something rather different, in their visual interpretations, and I appreciate that difference. Whereas the Jeffers has a rather cheerful "dashing through the snow" feeling, complete with a figure that looks suspiciously like Santa Claus, the Lynch captures an individual who, save for her horse, is truly along in a frozen world. One gets the sense, in some of these illustrations, of the feeling of being frozen, not just in the landscape, but in the young woman, who is momentarily transfixed by the deep and dark beauty of the woods. Recommended to anyone looking for picture book presentations of this poem—I recommend reading both it and the Jeffers—as well as to fellow fans of P.J. Lynch. show less

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, illustrated by Susan Jeffers.

Robert Frost's classic winter poem, Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening, which was composed in 1922 and first published in 1923 as part of his New Hampshire volume, provides the text for this beautiful picture-book. His evocative words are paired with Susan Jeffers' beautiful artwork, which amplifies the story to be found in the poem, depicting the travelling narrator as a kindly soul who leaves good things for the forest show more residents as he passes through.

As someone who has loved this poem since the day I first encountered it, as a young girl reading through the collected works of Robert Frost to be found on my father's shelves, I was pretty much guaranteed to enjoy this book, but I found that I was unexpectedly moved by Jeffers' artwork. The illustrations, which capture both the pale beauty of a snow-covered world, as well as the more colorful elements brought into that world by the man in his snow-drawn carriage, have quite a few surprises hidden in them. From the hares hiding in the brush on one page, to the deer watching as the man lays down the food he has brought for the woodland animals, there is plenty going on in the illustrations that add to the 'basic' story-line of the poem. Highly recommended to anyone looking for picture-book presentations of classic poems intended for children, as well as to fans of Ms. Jeffers' artwork. show less

My introduction to poetry in middle school primarily consisted of a few poems and poets....there was e.e. cummings that I remember, Longfellow for sure, I vaguely remember an introduction to Dickinson and I definitely remember Robert Frost. I think we all had that introduction to Frost by way of The Road not Taken, but I remember reading ahead in our textbook and finding Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. It immediately became my favorite.

The poem spoke to me....I was a kid who liked to show more wander into any nearby forest for lengths of time and most of the time alone. It was the nature thing but it was also just liking to be alone in the woods in the deep quiet, lost in my thoughts. For some reason, I also wrapped this poem up in my head with The Waltons. Do you remember that first movie that the Waltons tv show spun off from? It was called The Homecoming: A Christmas Story and I remember Olivia Walton (played by Patricia Neal in the movie) looking out of the house at the snowstorm, worrying about John Walton making it home for Christmas from another part of the state. So...snow, deep quiet forest walks, anxiety about the future...you can see how it all comes together in my middle school mind...right?

Fast forward about 15 years and this poem remained my favorite poem despite having read very little poetry by Robert Frost other than this and The Road Not Taken. In fact, I read very little poetry, period. One day, while sitting in the undergraduate library at UofM, doing anything but what I really needed to do, which was write a paper, I decided to look for a book of Robert Frost's poetry. In the course of looking for one of his books I found a review/reading of the poem, Stopping by Woods, and found out the poem was really about death. That was pretty eye opening to me because I always took the poem so literally but after reading the review and re-reading the poem, I could see how a close reading of the poem could be interpreted this way.

This year, New Hampshire, the book of poems by Frost that Stopping by Woods originally appeared in came into the public domain. When I read this, I knew I would want to find a copy of it and read it...not just that poem but the whole book. Finally, now that I am reading poetry on a regular basis I should at least read a complete book of poems by Frost instead of only the two which seem to be on every middle school kid's syllabus.

I am glad I did but also, the high esteem which I had held for Robert Frost for so long has been lessened a bit...I can't say that he is my favorite poet any longer, nor can I say that Stopping by Woods is my favorite poem, but it is still up there. What I did find, however, is that there are several other poems in New Hampshire that I really liked. The fore section of the book consists mainly of longer poems including, Maple and Paul's Wife, both of which, were very good but too long to quote here. There were also a number of shorter poems that, along with Stopping by Woods, comprised the latter half of the book. Here is one that I liked...Frost uses depictions of snow in many of his poems...

Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

In a Disused Graveyard is also very good as is The Onset, a looming and vivid description of a winter storm and how it burys the forest, people working outside and the village...

The Onset

Always the same, when on a fated night
At last the gathered snow lets down as white
As may be in dark woods, and with a song
It shall not make again all winter long
Of hissing on the yet uncovered ground,
I almost stumble looking up and round,
As one who overtaken by the end
Gives up his errand, and lets death descend....

I think you get the picture, snow, death, dark woods, "gives up his errand, and lets death descend"...pretty common themes in Frost's poetry. Not that I don't like it, I do. It just re-confirms what I read now 25 (?) years ago.

The eponymous poem, New Hampshire, is a slog but I read it all the same and all the way through. For me it is so specifically regional and refers to people and subjects that I simply don't get. At the time for someone in New England, it might have been more relevant but to me it was the most uninteresting poem in a book that contained a number of very good poems.

All in all, it was good to finally and truly read Robert Frost. I understand now....he is one of the best, if not the best American poet of his time and reading a book of his poetry you start to see the common themes and vocabulary he uses from poem to poem. My main diet of poetry these days is by modern authors but I would also suggest it is good to go back and read the classics. show less

I bought Robert Frost Three Books from a remainders table several years ago. I don't remember when, but I know the reason was two-fold. One, I love Frost's poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. For those of you who don't recognize the title, I think it's also referred to as the "miles to go before I sleep" poem. Two, I felt driven to study the work of well-known poets. I bought the book without even opening the cover, so imagine my disappointment when I discovered Stopping by Woods on show more a Snowy Evening isn't in the book. The book contains three of Frost's books, A Boy's Will, North of Boston, and Mountain Interval. The poems in this book are divine. I read and reread many of them many times. They take the heart and mind on a journey through nature and human reaction. Wind and Window Flower reminded me of fleeting love and lost opportunity. The Vantage Point reminded me of the inner struggle between the need for solitude and the need for connection. Some poems, like Snow and The Self-Seeker, tell stories that seem both complete and incomplete by design. Interestingly, many of the poems seem as if they could have been written today. There is a timeliness in Frost's work that leaves the reader feeling suspended between the past and present ever pointing out what many of us know to be true, humans tend to repeat patterns of behavior and living until something shocks them into change. Frost manages to be weave complexity and simplicity into his words without ever sounding as if he's trying to be impressive. show less