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   parkerlee Teacher
   

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   A lot of readers say that the narrator is probably a country doctor making house visits, but as it goes with poetry, this is just speculation. (The interpretation is open to each reader to read into it whatever he or she can relate to.) At any rate, this idea corresponds well with the narrator's wishes to linger in the woods being overcome by a sense of obligation to "get on with it."  Perhaps he/she has patients waiting  who depend on prompt attention.  A good doctor has to put personal wants and needs aside. In conclusion, the narrator says:

   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.

   The repetition of the last line reiterates the aspect of weariness and waiting  before rest. Some psychoanalysts consider this even as a kind of death wish - a desire to escape from the problems and obligations of life itself.

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   http://www.enotes.com/stopping-by/meaning-stopping-by-woods

   http://www.enotes.com/stopping-by/themes

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   Posted by parkerlee on Wednesday September 30, 2009 at 11:23 AM