Show us Your Life Lines
I can chart my life’s important moments by this poem. I know that every time I have been afraid or about to jump into the abyss; this poem has centered me, haunted me and saved me. I remember the night I lay in a hospital bed, unable to move, doped up, and so consumed by pain that I felt my own identity slipping away. The only word I could say and see was “cancer”. I recited this poem in it’s entirety to remind myself of what I knew. It was simple.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
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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.
chiefbiscuit Said:
on at
This poem is such an important one to so many people. It seems to touch on an integral part of what it means to be human. I love the rhythm - all lines have 8 syllables. So simple, even, contained and yet somehow so huge.