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This Day in History Class is a production of I Heart Radio.

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Hello and Welcome to This Day in

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History Class, a show for those

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who can never know enough about

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history. I'm Gay Bluesier

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and in this episode we're talking

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about Stopping by Woods on a

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Snowy Evening, a longstanding

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gateway poem for students of

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literature in the United States and

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beyond. The

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day was March seven, ninety

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three. Robert Frost's

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poem Stopping by Woods on a

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Snowy Evening was published in

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New Republic magazine. Later

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that year. The poem was also

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included in New Hampshire, Robert

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Frost's third and final poetry

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collection, which went on to win a Pulitzer

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Prize. In one

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of the poets best known and most

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to steamed works, Stopping by Woods

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on a Snowy Evening is a fixture

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of English curricula in American schools

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for millions of students. It serves

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as an entry point both to Frost's

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own work and to poetry in general.

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The poem's brevity is part of its

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classroom appeal. At just sixteen

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lines long, Frost described it

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as quote a short poem with

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a long name. Another

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point in the poem's favor is that it

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tells a clear, simple story while

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also leaving enough ambiguity to keep

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things interesting. It's written

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from the perspective of a loan traveler

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in a horse drawn wagon. Despite

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the cold, and although he has business

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to attend to, the traveler stops

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between a frozen lake and the edge

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of a nearby forest. The

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traveler stands and silently

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observes the snowy winter scene before

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him, transfixed by its beauty.

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Sometime later, the spell is broken

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and the traveler sets out again. If

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you've never heard the poem before, well

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now's the time. Here it is being read

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by Robert Frost himself, stopping

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by woods on a snowy evening. Whose

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woods these are? I think I know

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his house is in the village, Though he

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will not see me stopping here to

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watch his woods fill up with snow.

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My little horse must think it queer to stop

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without a farmhouse near. Between

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the woods and frozen lake, the

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darkest evening of the year, he gives

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his horness spells a shake to ask if there

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is some mistake. The only

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other sounds the sweep of easy

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wind and downy flake. The

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woods are lovely, dark and

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deep, But I have promises

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to keep, and miles to

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go before I sleep, and miles

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to go before I sleep. Much

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of Robert Frost's poetry presents

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a realistic look at life in rural

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Newland, written in plains spoken

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language, and there's a good reason why.

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In the years before he became one of America's

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most beloved poets, Frost

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was the owner of a thirty acre farm

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in Dairy, New Hampshire. He

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farmed to support his family while

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piecing together his first book in his spare

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time. But despite his long association

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with farming and country living, Frost

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himself was said to be a lousy

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farmer. Part of the problem

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could have been that most of his income

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came from selling poetry to magazines

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and journals. Writing left

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him with less time for farming, and

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since the writing is what brought in the money,

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he probably didn't feel the need to be as

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strict and attentive to his farm

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as his full time farming neighbors.

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That said, Frost, his

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wife, Eleanor, and their four children

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really could have used the extra income that

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a healthy functioning farm would

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have provided. They struggled

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to run the farm for nearly two decades

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from the late eighteen nineties to nineteen

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twelve, but it never became profitable.

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Frost grew more and more depressed

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as his family sank deeper into poverty,

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and it's believed that one particularly

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low point later inspired him

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to write Stopping by Woods on a snowy

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evening. As the story goes,

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Frost had gone to his local market one

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winter solstice to sell the meager

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harvest of his farm. He

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had hoped to earn enough to see his family

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through the winter and to buy Christmas presents

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for his children. However, at

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the end of the day his profits were

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nowhere near enough. On

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the ride home, he was so distraught

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that he stopped on the side of the road and began

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to cry. Those kinds

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of personal details aren't included

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in the final poem, and by leaving them

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out, it becomes much more open

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to interpretation. Still,

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many readers and scholars have suggested

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that the speaker of the poem is the

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author himself. Some

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have even interpreted the poem as a reflection

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of Frost's melancholy mental state.

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In that view, the woods beckon

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with the promise of rest, not just

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from a long day or a tiring

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journey, but from life itself, the

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sleep mentioned in the fourth stanza

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being a metaphor for death. There

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is evidence in the poem to support that

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darker interpretation. The

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speaker seems to feel out of step

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with the world at large. They're

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self conscious of how strange it would

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look if someone saw them lingering on

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a cold, dark night for no apparent

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reason. They even project

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that insecurity onto their horse,

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imagining that the animal thinks they

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must have stopped by mistake. The

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themes of exhaustion, paranoia,

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isolation, and obligation are

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all present in the poem, but

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so are the ideas of tranquility,

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optimism, and determination. The

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conventions and expectations of society

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wigh heavily on the traveler, but

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the mystery and beauty of the natural

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world have a revitalizing effect

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on them. In this moment of stillness,

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the speaker remembers his commitments,

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the promises he's made, the

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reason that he's out riding alone

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on a dark, snowy evening in the first

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place. Whatever sleep

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is in the poem, whether it waits

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at the end of a fulfilled day

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or a fulfilled lifetime, the

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traveler chooses to forego it for

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the time being. And to press on

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instead. The repetition

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of the final line underscores

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that sense of unfinished business

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that must be dealt with. Of

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course, that's just one way to look

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at it. Others have suggested

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that the poem is actually about a weary

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Santa Clause taking a breather during

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a long night of delivering presents. The

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little horse in that case would be a

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reindeer, and sure that

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fits all the same themes would

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still apply. As for

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the Frost family, In nineteen twelve,

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they moved to England to make a fresh start.

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Now pushing forty, the poet was struggling

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to finish his first collection, and away

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from the farm he was finally able to

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do it. The book was titled A

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Boy's Will and was released in

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the UK in nineteen thirteen. It

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was so well received by British critics

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that Frost was able to secure a U S

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publishing contract for his second book,

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North of Boston. The poet's

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fame continued to grow in his home country,

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and when World War One broke out, Frost

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decided to move back to New England and

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give farming one more try.

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True to form, he still did more

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writing than farming, but at least

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now he could better afford that trade off.

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According to the poet, Stopping by

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Woods on a snowy Evening was written

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on his farm early one morning in a

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sudden fit of inspiration. Frost

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had just pulled an all nighter working

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on a lengthy poem that would serve as the

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centerpiece of his third collection. He

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lost track of time, and when he had finished,

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he realized it was almost dawn. Instead

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of going straight to bed, Frost stepped

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outside to watch the sunrise, and

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in those tired moments of reflection, he

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wound up writing one of the most memorable

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works of his entire career. He

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later described it as quote his

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best effort for remembrance.

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He left behind plenty of other strong contenders

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for that title, including Mending

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Wall, Birches, Fire and Ice,

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and of course The Road Not Taken.

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But for anyone who feels driven to

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see a task through, no matter

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how long or daunting the path forward

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may seem, Frost's owed

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to unfinished business is

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pretty tough to be. I'm

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gay Bluesier, and hopefully you

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now know a little more about history

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today than you did yesterday.

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at i heart media dot com.

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Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show,

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and thanks to you for listening. I'll see

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you back here again tomorrow for another

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day in History class. For

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