Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

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 farmhouse¹ 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 flake².

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.

雪夜林边小驻

罗伯特·弗罗斯特

余光中译

想来我认识这座森林，

林主的庄宅就在邻村,

却不会见我在此驻马，

看他林中积雪的美景。

我的小马一定颇惊讶：

四望不见有什么农家，

偏是一年最暗的黄昏，

寒林和冰湖之间停下。

它摇一摇身上的串铃，

问我这地方该不该停。

此外只有轻风拂雪片，

再也听不见其他声音。

森林又暗又深真可羡，

但我还要守一些诺言，

还要赶多少路才安眠，

还要赶多少路才安眠。

About the poet:

Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial³ speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical⁴ themes.

Notes:

The poem is written in iambic tetrameter in the Rubaiyat stanza⁵ created by Edward Fitzgerald. Each verse (save the last) follows an a-a-b-a rhyming scheme, with the following verse's a's rhyming with that verse's b, which is a chain rhyme. Overall, the rhyme scheme is AABA-BBCB-CCDC-DDDD. Imagery and personification are prominent in the work.