In the next lines, the speaker discusses the “keeper” of the woods and what this person has access to that he does not. The keeper is able to see the secret interactions of animals and exist among them freely. Kipling’s speaker concludes the poem by describing all the things that one might see if they were to enter the woods at night.
Explanation:
The poem begins with the speaker stating that one particular road was “shut…Sevendy years ago.” This first line is spoken as if the reader already has prior knowledge of the road. Although seventy years have passed since anyone was able to traverse this path the speaker remembers it well.
Since the time the road was closed the “Weather and rain” have ”undone it.” Due to the fact that it wasn’t maintained, the elements have almost erased it entirely. If one was to come upon this place now, unaware of the history, they would not know that there was “once a road through the woods.” Nature has taken back the area that humans had claimed.
Trees have been planted and grown up around the path, helping to obscure what was left of the path. Now, if one was searching for it, they would have to go “underneath the coppice and heath.” Here, the speaker is referencing a wooded area that is annually cut back to stimulate growth and “heath,” or the opposite. This is an area of uncultivated land. It can also refer to a type of common shrub that grows wild. One would also be forced to go around the “anemones.” This word is wide-ranging and refers to an expansive genus of flowers.
There is a contrast here between the way that humans have worked the land, abandoned it, and then worked it again, and the way nature is trying to take it back. In the next lines, the speaker refers to the “keeper.” This person is likely the one in charge of monitory the area. The speaker refers to the “keeper” vaguely. There is no real definition of what their job is but one can assume they have access to all the wildlife that has since come back to the area.
The keeper is now the only one who is able to see beyond the surface level of the woods. This person sees the “ring-dove” brooding or preparing to sit and incubate eggs. Their position allows them to see the “badgers roll[ing] at ease.” The animals are comfortable with this person. They feel as if they are able to continue on with their lives. There is an element of jealously between the speaker and this keeper. The keeper has access to a new secret world no one else can see.
In the next stanza, the speaker discusses what happens if one “enter[s] the woods” on a “summer evening late.” One could slip into this area that is seemingly off-limits while no one is watching. The air would be cooling off for the day and the animals would be as relaxed as possible. One might even be able to hear the “otter whistle…[to] his mate.”
The animals have no reason to fear “men” as there are so “few” passing through the area now. If the road still existed, this would not be the case. If one entered into the woods at this time there might even be a detectable sound of a “horse’s feet” beating on the ground. They move without hesitation and without the need for a path.
In the final lines, the speaker increases the mystical and mysterious elements of this piece by describing how the horses seem to know “perfectly…The old lost road through the woods.” He concludes with the line, “But there is no road through the woods.” It has vanished so completely, he could not prove to another it ever existed.
Answers & Comments
Answer:
The entire area has been reclaimed by nature.
In the next lines, the speaker discusses the “keeper” of the woods and what this person has access to that he does not. The keeper is able to see the secret interactions of animals and exist among them freely. Kipling’s speaker concludes the poem by describing all the things that one might see if they were to enter the woods at night.
Explanation:
The poem begins with the speaker stating that one particular road was “shut…Sevendy years ago.” This first line is spoken as if the reader already has prior knowledge of the road. Although seventy years have passed since anyone was able to traverse this path the speaker remembers it well.
Since the time the road was closed the “Weather and rain” have ”undone it.” Due to the fact that it wasn’t maintained, the elements have almost erased it entirely. If one was to come upon this place now, unaware of the history, they would not know that there was “once a road through the woods.” Nature has taken back the area that humans had claimed.
Trees have been planted and grown up around the path, helping to obscure what was left of the path. Now, if one was searching for it, they would have to go “underneath the coppice and heath.” Here, the speaker is referencing a wooded area that is annually cut back to stimulate growth and “heath,” or the opposite. This is an area of uncultivated land. It can also refer to a type of common shrub that grows wild. One would also be forced to go around the “anemones.” This word is wide-ranging and refers to an expansive genus of flowers.
There is a contrast here between the way that humans have worked the land, abandoned it, and then worked it again, and the way nature is trying to take it back. In the next lines, the speaker refers to the “keeper.” This person is likely the one in charge of monitory the area. The speaker refers to the “keeper” vaguely. There is no real definition of what their job is but one can assume they have access to all the wildlife that has since come back to the area.
The keeper is now the only one who is able to see beyond the surface level of the woods. This person sees the “ring-dove” brooding or preparing to sit and incubate eggs. Their position allows them to see the “badgers roll[ing] at ease.” The animals are comfortable with this person. They feel as if they are able to continue on with their lives. There is an element of jealously between the speaker and this keeper. The keeper has access to a new secret world no one else can see.
In the next stanza, the speaker discusses what happens if one “enter[s] the woods” on a “summer evening late.” One could slip into this area that is seemingly off-limits while no one is watching. The air would be cooling off for the day and the animals would be as relaxed as possible. One might even be able to hear the “otter whistle…[to] his mate.”
The animals have no reason to fear “men” as there are so “few” passing through the area now. If the road still existed, this would not be the case. If one entered into the woods at this time there might even be a detectable sound of a “horse’s feet” beating on the ground. They move without hesitation and without the need for a path.
In the final lines, the speaker increases the mystical and mysterious elements of this piece by describing how the horses seem to know “perfectly…The old lost road through the woods.” He concludes with the line, “But there is no road through the woods.” It has vanished so completely, he could not prove to another it ever existed.