The Wood-Pile
by Robert Frost

Out walking in the frozen swamp one gray day,
I paused and said, 'I will turn back from here.
No, I will go on farther—and we shall see.'
The hard snow held me, save where now and then
One foot went through. The view was all in lines
Straight up and down of tall slim trees
Too much alike to mark or name a place by
So as to say for certain I was here
Or somewhere else: I was just far from home.
A small bird flew before me. He was careful
To put a tree between us when he lighted,
And say no word to tell me who he was
Who was so foolish as to think what he thought.
He thought that I was after him for a feather—
The white one in his tail; like one who takes
Everything said as personal to himself.
One flight out sideways would have undeceived him.
And then there was a pile of wood for which
I forgot him and let his little fear
Carry him off the way I might have gone,
Without so much as wishing him good-night.
He went behind it to make his last stand.
It was a cord of maple, cut and split
And piled—and measured, four by four by eight.
And not another like it could I see.
No runner tracks in this year's snow looped near it.
And it was older sure than this year's cutting,
Or even last year's or the year's before.
The wood was gray and the bark warping off it
And the pile somewhat sunken. Clematis
Had wound strings round and round it like a bundle.
What held it though on one side was a tree
Still growing, and on one a stake and prop,
These latter about to fall. I thought that only
Someone who lived in turning to fresh tasks
Could so forget his handiwork on which
He spent himself, the labor of his ax,
And leave it there far from a useful fireplace
To warm the frozen swamp as best it could
With the slow smokeless burning of decay.

1.	ANALYZE SPEAKER What do the opening lines suggest about the speaker's personality?
2.	INTERPRET IMAGERY Can the speaker depend on the surface he walks over to support him? Explain.
3.	ANALYZE SPEAKER What does the speaker convey about the setting?
4.	AMBIGUITIES Whom do you think "he" refers to in this line: the speaker or the bird? Explain.
5.	SPEAKER'S MEANING Is the speaker describing himself or someone else in this line?
6.	AUTHOR'S PURPOSE How does the speaker signal that his attention has turned from the bird?
7.	INFER How much of a human presence is evident in the landscape?
8.	QUESTION What is the minimum age of the pile of wood?
9.	INTERPRET IMAGERY How does the clematis vine suggest what would have usually been done with the wood?
10.	ANALYZE DETAILS What is the relative importance of nature and human-made structures in this poem?
11.	CULTURAL CONTEXT Why were woodpiles common at this time?
12.	TONE What is the tone at the end of the poem?