Re: [nukkad] And miles to go ... sleep : Double Entendre

["Praveen" <>]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
God never occurs to you in person but always in action. 
-Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Sam-the-psycho,
It was refreshing to read this intelligent analysis of this poem by Rob
Frost, but a trifle pesimistic to my liking. If I choose to be uninformed of
Mr. Frosts personality and his suicidal tendencies, I would interpret this
differently....
_________________________________________________________________

Here are some clues for the psychoanalyst :
The man is all by himself ... he drives to the woods ... and he
knows he is not being watched. The horse is confused why the man
would stop in such a strange/awkward place.
** The man is happy that he has the woods all by himself - to watch the
woods fill up with snow; a lovely sight which the owner of the woods is
missing since he is stupid enough to go home to his village to sleep. He is
smiling at his horse's confusion - because the silly animal cant enjoy what
he is enjoying.

The "darkest" evening of the year has a double meaning - lack of
light and a "black/gloomy" mood.
** This man may be enjoying the fact that tonight is a long moonless dark
night of heavenly silence, with the pristine beauty of a white frozen lake
and the tall dark woods. He has stopped to feel and experience the sights
and sounds... He is slightly irritated that the horse is shaking his bells
and disturbing the quiet peace. He understands that the horse is impatient
to go home and get over with his work...

The woods are "lovely, dark, and deep" suggests that the man is
seriously considering suicide.
** The woods are lovely, beautiful and dark - as if he is admiring a woman !
He is in love with the scene.

And lastly... "And miles to go before I sleep" is repeated twice.
It can be said that a poet of Frost's caliber would not repeat a line
to maintain rhythm. The lines have two different meanings... that he
is a long way from home... and, he has realised his life's journey
is not yet over.
** First meaning : He regrets he has miles to go - he secretly wishes he
could stay there longer.
Second meaning : He contemplates the nice feeling he will have as he covers
the miles and miles of dark beautiful woods, before he can get off his horse
and sleep blissfully.
On the other hand if we see the stress on 'deep' and 'sleep', we may even
conclude that his admiration of beauty of the woods is being carried further
to his home where he is looking forward to go and sleep with his loved one.

                 ... les mysteres de l'esprit humain...
** Whats that ?


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To join/leave, use the form at: http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/#options
This list is archived at: http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html