12-08-2011, 10:03 AM
For me the woods are filled with risk and opportunity. When I read the poem I imagine that the narrator is tempted to ride recklessly into them, getting lost in its depths. The fact that it's evening is very important. There wouldn't be any mystery or danger during the day. I think of the woods as a place I'd like to study if I were the narrator, and feel a pleasant shiver down my spine.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe