Dust of Snow

1.0About the Poet

Robert Frost (26 March 1874-29 January 1963) was born in San Francisco, but his family moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1884 following his father's death. The move was actually a return, for Frost's ancestors were originally New Englanders, and Frost became famous for his poetry's engagement with New England locales, identities, and themes.

2.0Central Idea

The poem 'Dust of Snow' by Robert Frost is a simple and short poem, yet with a deeper and larger meaning. The poet explains how an act as petty as experiencing snow on one's body can brighten one's day up. The message of the poem is put into words by Robert Frost:

3.0Nature as a Healer

The poem describes a very simple happening in very simple words. It tells us that sometimes even a small incident may prove to be of a larger significance. The poet is upset in the beginning of the poem but a small incident of falling of snow changes his hemlock tree. Suddenly a crow sitting on the tree shakes the tree and the fine particles of snow from tree falls on the poet. The soft and cold touch of snow changes the poet's mood from sad to happy. He starts feeling soothed and refreshed. In this way a simple moment proves to be very significant and saves rest of the day of poet from being wasted and held in regret.

The black crow is commonly a symbol of death and fear. Since the crow is not associated with goodness, it is ironic that in this poem, it is doing a good deed by shaking off the snow. Robert Frost didn't choose to use an oak, maple or pine tree. Instead he chose the hemlock tree which is usually associated with poison and toxicity. Anyway, the beautiful snow that adorns the poisonous hemlock tree's branches is shaken off by a scary crow.

This good act lifts the suicidal person's spirits causing him to change his mind about killing himself. The small act causes the man to have an enlightened insight.

We have a poisonous hemlock tree covered in pure, white snow and a man who is depressed, planning to kill himself and walking under the tree. At that precise moment, the black crow of death shakes the pure, good snow onto the man. All that goodness helps the man to change his mind about killing himself. Instead, he decides to live, forget the regret and sorrow to enable healing.

The poem, Dust of Snow by Robert Frost, 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 our life happier. It will also cause us to have a spirit that is willing to change and therefore succeed.

4.0Poetic devices used in this poem

(1) Assonance : Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. Example - Shook down in me

(2) Alliteration : Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. Example - Has given my heart And saved some part

(3) Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Example - The poet has given the visual description.

(4) Symbolism : Symbolism is a use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities, by giving them symbolic meanings different from their literal meanings. Example - The hemlock tree (a poisonous tree)

(5) Enjambment: It is a literary device in which a line of poetry carries its idea or thought over to the next line without a grammatical pause. Example - The way....... hemlock tree.

(6) Synecdoche : A device in which a part of something is substituted for the whole (or viceversa). Example - Has given my heart, A change of mood Its not only his heart but his entire self who has been giving a change of mood.

(7) Consonance : It is a poetic device that usually involves consonants that sound similar being repeated within a word, sentence, or phrase. Example - Consonant 'D' (day I had rued).

(8) Metaphor : It makes a comparison between two non-similar things. Example - The dust of snow.

5.0Recall

• The poem 'Dust of Snow' by the American poet Robert Frost is a simple and short poem, yet with a deeper and larger meaning. This poem was published in his Pulitzer prize winning volume of poetry 'New Hampshire'.
• In the two-stanza poem of four lines each, Frost uses conventional rhyme scheme 'abab cdcd'.
• We find alliteration (repetition of consonant sound in the beginning of nearby words) in 'saved some part' and assonance (repetition of vowel sound in neighbouring words) in 'shook down on me' and 'from a hemlock tree'.
• The poem has an ironical overtone. Though the crow is basically considered as a bad omen and the hemlock is associated with death, even they can bring positive vibes to the poet and make him cheerful. So, everything has something good in it if you can think positively.
• Frost presents nature in a very different way here. Nature's healing power is highlighted in this poem. Even though the crow is considered as evil and the hemlock stands for poison and toxicity, they can bring joy to someone's mind. The poet wants to reiterate that everything in nature around us is beautiful. And we have to accept whichever way nature chooses to bless us.