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?
(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?
(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?

Explanation

The poet presents nature in its raw and natural form. It is snowing. The fine flakes of snow have amassed on the top of the trees. The poet is standing under a hemlock tree associated with poisonous qualities. The sudden arrival and alighting on the tree top let a mass of fine snow dust fall on the poet. It is quite ironical that both the crow and the hemlock tree which are considered inauspicious serve to bring cheerfulness to the mood and gladdens the heart of the poet.
(i) Generally, a cuckoo, a nightingale and a lark are the birds usually named in poems. Most of them stand either for their melodious voice or for their airy grandeur. A crow rarely finds any place in poems. When we generally think of a crow, an inauspicious image comes to our mind. It is a bird of ill omen.
(ii) A hemlock plant or tree is poisonous. It has small white flowers. The poet doesn't write about a more beautiful tree such as a maple, or an oak, or a pine. A hemlock tree symbolises sadness or grief. However, the falling of fine dust of snow on the head of the poet removes that deep sadness and is replaced by the cheerfulness of his mood.
(iii) The crow and a hemlock tree represent sorrow. They are not auspicious symbols. The dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree brings a sudden change in the mood of the poet. Cheerfulness replaces deep sorrow in the end.