Dust of Snow

Dust of Snow

Introduction:

The poem ‘Dust of Snow’ is Robert Frost’s well-known work. This poem presents a moment that seems simple but has a larger significance.  

 About the Poet:

Robert Frost was born in 1874 in San Francisco, California. He was an American poet much admired for his depictions of the rural life of New England and his command of American colloquial speech. Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime and is the only poet to receive four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 31 times. His most famous works include poems like "Fire and Ice", "The Road Not Taken", "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", ‘West-Running Brook’, "Acquainted with the Night", ‘The Lovely Shall Be Choosers’, ‘From Snow to Snow’ and many more.

 Summary:

Stanza 1

    The way a crow

    Shook down on me

    The dust of snow

    From a hemlock tree

 

Meaning Stanza 1: The crow is commonly regarded as a symbol of death and fear and is not associated with goodness. But, in these lines, a complete irony is depicted where it is doing a good deed by shaking off the snow. Here, the poet has not chosen trees like oak, maple, or pine. Instead, he chose the hemlock tree which is usually associated with poison and toxicity. So, in this stanza, the beautiful snow sitting on the branches of the poisonous hemlock tree is shaken off by a crow.

 

Stanza 2

    Has given my heart

    A change of mood

    And saved some part

    Of a day I had rued

 

Meaning Stanza 2:  From the lines, it’s clearly understood that the poet was going through a bad mood. He had not been looking forward to that day and the day was not turning out any better than he had expected either. But, the crow descending on the Hemlock tree changes it all. Here, the poet uses the elements of the fearsome crow and poisonous Hemlock tree to shake the white, pure snow off the branches. Robert Frost has also used a bit of irony here by referring to the poisonous Hemlock and the medicinal Rue. As soon as the snow fell on him, the poet’s otherwise bad mood was uplifted. He was filled with joy and a sense of thankfulness that he was alive to see such beautiful things in this world.

 

Meanings of words and phrases:

mood: a temporary state of mind or feeling

rued: to feel regret, remorse or pity

 

Theme:

In “Dust of Snow”, the poet is trying to tell us that on a cold winter’s day, he went out. At such a time, the only thing that cheers him up is the world of nature. This natural world is available for us to see and touch-free of cost. However, we generally take it for granted. Worse still, we can curse nature for giving us bad weather. However, if we look beyond our own inconvenience, we will see that nature is beautiful even at its harshest. If only we pay attention to all that life gives us, we will learn to appreciate it. The crow is what brings the beauty of the snowflakes to the poet’s attention, and for that, he is grateful. He is grateful to be alive to see such wonderful sights in this world at no cost whatsoever to himself.

  Conclusion:

The poem reiterates that the little things in life can make huge changes in our future. It also shows that if we can take the hard times of life in stride, eventually something will happen to change our situation into happier times. The simple things we do for others can make all the difference. Just think about those random acts of kindness we do and how much they brighten a person’s day and sometimes change their future. Noticing and appreciating all the small things in life will make your life happier. It will also cause you to have a spirit willing to change and succeed.

 Dust of Snow Literary Devices:

 1. Alliteration- the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

 The instances of alliteration are as follows-

     Has given my heart

    And saved some part

 2. inversion – when the structure of a sentence is changed by the poet to create a rhyme, this poetic license is called inversion. In stanza 1, inversion can be seen.

 3. assonance – the prominence of a vowel sound throughout a line is called assonance. In stanza 1, line 2 –  “Shook down on me” – ‘o’ sound is prominent.

enjambment – when the same sentence continues to the next line without the use of any punctuation marks, it is called enjambment. It has been used throughout the poem.

 3. Synecdoche: Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

     Has given my heart

 

Rhyming Words:

 Stanza 1 – crow - snow, me – tree;

Stanza 2 – heart - part; mood - rued

 Rhyme Scheme:

abab – cdcd

Answers to textual questions:

 Q1. What is a “dust of snow”? What does the poet say has changed his mood? How has the poet’s mood changed?

 A. “Dust of snow” means tiny particles of snow. The poet was in a bad mood when particles of snow had fallen on him. This changed the poet’s mood immediately. His day got better.

  Q 2. How does Frost present nature in this poem? The following questions may help you to think of an answer.

 (i) What are the birds that are usually named in poems? Do you think a crow is often mentioned in poems? What images come to your mind when you think of a crow?

 A. Birds like sparrows, nightingales, and peacocks are often named in poems. I don’t think that a crow is often mentioned in poems. Crows are often seen as indicators of doom and fear. I get negative images when I think of a crow.

  (ii) Again, what is “a hemlock tree”? Why doesn’t the poet write about a more ‘beautiful’ tree such as a maple, or an oak, or a pine?

 A. A hemlock tree is a poisonous tree. The poet does not mention a more ‘beautiful’ tree such as maple, oak, or pine because he wants to indicate a sad scene. As a hemlock tree is considered bad the poet refers to it.

  (iii) What do the ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent — joy or sorrow? What does the dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree stand for?

 A. Both crow and the hemlock tree represent sorrow. Frost has used both the negative creatures as the carriers of positivism and strength that transformed his day for the better. The dust of snow shaken by the crow stands for positivity and hope.