Textual Questions - The Dust of Snow - Fire and Ice

 The Dust of Snow

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 sparrow, nightingale, and peacock 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 of positivity and hope.

Fire and Ice

1. There are many ideas about how the world will ‘end’. Do you think the world will end someday? Have you ever thought about what would happen if the sun got so hot that it ‘burst’, or grew colder and colder?

 A. The world is going to end one day. There are many ideas as to how it will end. Life exists only on Earth because of the favorable environment and heat. If the sun gets hotter and hotter, one day there would be fire everywhere. Conversely, if it grows colder and colder, there will be ice everywhere on Earth and everything would freeze.

  2. For Frost, what do ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for?

 Here are some ideas:

greed	avarice	cruelty	lust	conflict	fury
intolerance	rigidity	insensitivity	coldness	indifference	hatred

 A. According to Frost, ‘fire’ stands for greed, conflict, fury, cruelty, lust, and avarice whereas ‘Ice’ stands for insensitivity, coldness, intolerance, indifference, rigidity, and hatred.

  3. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?

 A. The rhyme scheme of the poem is “aba abc bcb”. The poet used the two beliefs that the world would come to an end either as a result of fire or ice. He compares fire and ice to desire and hatred. Desires and hatred can damage an individual.