My Favorite Poem of all Time

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. 

This is my favorite poem of all time, it was written by Robert Frost, and it is called "Stopping by woods on a snowy evening"

It brings up a range of emotions: foreboding, calm, peace, menace, macabre, darkness, beauty...all in one.  Here is my interpetation of it.....The woods are the siren song of quitting and ultimately death.  When the journey of life gets too hard we all have a thought of giving up, quitting, retreating from life in a cocoon of numbness.  The darkest evening of the year is a point of despair, like when you are awake at night with your own thoughts of sadness and regret...the things we think but don't tell others.  The horse snaps him out of it with the shake of his bells.  He knows he can't give up in life, takes a last reflection at the temptation of giving up, but he chooses not to.  He thinks of his family and friends and his obligations....and then like a mantra he repeats that he has "miles to go before I sleep"  multiple times, almost like a meditation.