Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

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BBC Radio 4 - Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Michael Symmons Roberts on the enduring appeal of Robert Frost’s masterpiece, a century on

Michael Symmons Roberts examines the lasting appeal and resonance of Robert Frost’s masterpiece, a century on from the poem’s creation.

A hundred years since he wrote it, the same basic truths still apply to the poem that Robert Frost knew almost immediately would be his ‘best bid for remembrance’. 

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening is on one level immensely accessible, as welcoming and familiar as a Thomas Kinkade jigsaw puzzle. At the very same time, it is intensely strange and finally unfathomable, full of shadows and unanswered questions. Who owns these woods that are so lovely dark and deep? Why is the speaker making such an urgent journey on ‘the darkest evening of the year’, - and what exactly are the ‘promises’ the speaker has to keep?

In exploring these questions, Michael Symmons Roberts hopes to discover the ways and the reasons why a poem in which so little actually happens has lodged itself so firmly into the popular imagination. In his quest, he’ll be joined by poets Jen Hadfield and Carl Phillips, as well as ardent Frost fan, Frank Skinner.

Producer - Geoff Bird
Executive Producer - Eloise Whitmore
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4

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