Frost in Translation

Happy Winter Solstice to you, the darkest evening of the year – the very night Robert Frost wrote about in his poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”
 
Many people do not realize, though, the Frost actually based his poem on an early hip-hop poem written by Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request) entitled “Whose block is this? Prolly a homeboy”
 
In the late 1800s Dickinson experimented with the language of poetry and created what has become modern-day hip hop culture. 

Dickinson's now-classic poem is below on the left, and Frost's take on his lines are on the right.
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By Emmett Lee Dickinson:
 
Whose block is this? Prolly[1] a homeboy –
And dang du[2]—his crib is phat, yo!
I bet he’s rolled up down at da club
And not e’en around, so Ima chill.
 
Check dis, my ride is reality challenged
Thinkin it’s lame that I’m lost in the hood.
He’s judgin’.  C’mon bro how far?
Cuz it’s harsh?
 
He’s lookin like “I know, right?
That was str8 up stupid!”
Don’t kno where im going fast
But im going there.  Preciate it!
 
It’s not like the neighbors be havin
​       a slam shut contest[3]
Tho I give back wat u bring to the table,
But bed gravity is pulling at me.
Gotta cop some serious Zs.
 


[1] Probably

[2] “Dang, dude”

[3] Making a great deal of noise.

By Robert Frost:
 
Whose woods these are I think I know.   
His house is in the village though;   
He will not see me stopping here   
To watch his woods fill up with snow.   
 
My little horse must think it queer   
To stop without a farmhouse near   
Between the woods and frozen lake   
The darkest evening of the year.   
 
He gives his harness bells a shake   
To ask if there is some mistake.   
The only other sound’s the sweep   
Of easy wind and downy flake.   
 
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.