Dust
of Snow
By
Robert Frost
·
‘Dust of Snow’ is an eight lines poem
composed by Robert Frost, an American poet who is better known for his nature
poems with realistic themes.
·
It is a simple and short poem with a
deeper meaning and wider perspective. It discusses how petty ways / trivial
incidents / insignificant things can impact our life largely and may prove to
be a turning point in our life.
·
The poet conveys that the stereotypes / false
beliefs must be discouraged as every entity in the universe has its value.
·
Symbolically, snow is presented as
cheerful and optimistic view of life whereas crow and hemlock tree are
presented as gloomy or pessimistic attitude.
·
Tone of the poem is philosophical and
didactic as the poet conveys that every dark cloud has a silver lining. We
should not give up hope even when we are surrounded by negativity.
Line
by Line Explanation
Line
1-4 with rhyme scheme
The way a crow a
Shook down on me b
The dust of snow a
From a hemlock tree b
The poem opens with the
poet, Robert Frost sitting under a hemlock tree possibly because he is dejected
and disappointed due to some sad incident in his life. The poet doesn’t discuss
the reason why he is dejected and in suicidal mood. Then, a crow inadvertently
shakes the branch of the hemlock tree which was covered with snow as it was
winter season. This simple action of crow made some particles of snow fall on the
poet. The hemlock tree is presented here as the symbol of dejection and death
and poet’s presence there conveys that he is so sad and dejected that he
possibly wants to commit suicide. The crow denotes to this world’s stereotypes
or fixed beliefs about certain creatures and objects. The common belief about a
crow is that it is an ominous bird bringing bad news. Nevertheless, these two supposedly
negative things are in touch with snow which is white, bright, pure and
beautiful and is presented as the symbol of positivity and optimism. The poet
tries to convey that man is so blind with his stereotypes that he fails to see
the real worth of the things.
Line
5-8 with rhyme scheme
Has given my heart c
A change of mood d
And saved some part c
Of a day I had rued. d
In these lines, the poet
undergoes a change of mood. When the particles of snow felled by crow touches
the poet, it makes him see the worth of life and role of nature in healing
human emotions and giving a helping hand in his difficult time. He muses why a
man fails to understand that happiness and sorrow are two phases of life,
if crow, hemlock tree and snow may exist together. The poet rethinks about the
beauty of life and gives up his sad and suicidal thoughts. In fact, the poet
goes through a transformation and decides that now he would not waste his life
by regretting or feeling sad about any bad phase of life. He wants to teach us
all that even the most insignificant thing or incident brings about a great
change in our life. It depends on our perspective and the way we look at the
things. However difficult phase of life we may be going through, there is
always a ray of hope that the things will change.
Rhyme
Scheme of the poem
ABAB CDCD
Has
given my heart – Alliteration
And saved some part –
Alliteration
The dust of snow – Assonance
From a hemlock tree –
Assonance
The way a crow shook down on me –
Imagery
The dust of snow – Symbolism
From a hemlock tree – Symbolism
And saved some part
–
Consonance
Of a day I had rued – Consonance
Message
of the poem
Sometimes, seemingly
insignificant natural things or incidents do bring about a great change in our
life. It depends on our perspective and the way we look at the things. However
difficult phase of life we may be going through, there is always a ray of hope
that the things will change. Even the darkest cloud has a silver lining in it.
The message is clear enough that we need to inculcate an optimistic outlook in
life and develop a positive frame of mind. There is also an underlying message
that every entity of nature provides healing touch and extends helping hand
towards mankind.
Important
Question – Answers
Q. A simple moment
proves to be very significant and saves the rest of the day of the poet from
being wasted. Explain the statement on the basis of the poem 'Dust Of Snow'.
Ans. A crow is
considered to be an ominous bird bringing bad news and hemlock tree is
presented as the symbol of death, dejection and disappointment. The poet is
buried in his sorrow that he fails to see the glistening and bright snow which
is the symbol of brightness, beauty, peace and positivity in life. He failed to
see that smallest particles of snow could cover the entire hemlock tree and its
negativity. When the dust of snow falls on the shoulder of sad poet, it is like
a lightening among the dark clouds, a big hope in his sad phase
of life. Thus, the poet proved that the ominous and negative things like crow
and hemlock and very insignificant things like dust of snow can also be the
instruments to bring cheer and positivity in life if we have right perspective
and positive frame of mind. He teaches us to inculcate positive attitude and
optimistic outlook in life. No matter however dark phase we are
going through, even a small hope can help us come out of the difficult time. It
is rightly said that 'even a small stick is a great hope for a drowning man'.
Q. How has the poet
used the dust of snow and crow as the symbols to steer clear of the
stereotypes? How can positive attitude turn a problem into an opportunity and
make the world a better place to live in?
Ans. Robert Frost
condemns stereotypes which are fixed beliefs as they are not healthy for our
belief system. For example crow is
considered to be an ominous bird bringing bad news and hemlock tree is the
symbol of death. The poet is so much engrossed in his sad thoughts that he
fails to see the glistening and bright snow which is like a lightening among
the dark clouds. But poet proved that the insignificant things like crow and
snow can bring significant changes in our life. They can be the instruments to
bring cheer and positivity in life if we have right perspective and positive
frame of mind. He exhorts us to open our mind and see the worth of things
however small or insignificant they are.
Q. What is the
underlying message of the poem ‘Dust of Snow’?
Ans. Sometimes,
seemingly insignificant natural things or events do bring about a great change
in our life. It depends on our perspective and the way we look at the things.
However difficult phase of life we may be going through, there is always a ray
of hope that the things will change. Even the darkest cloud has a silver lining
in it. The message is clear enough that we need to have an optimistic outlook
and positive frame of mind to lead a happy and healthy life.
Video on Dust of Snow
https://youtu.be/fv6Zn4QADjs
I wish to convey my profound appreciation for your exceptionally lucid and erudite elucidation, esteemed educator, which has enriched my understanding immensely by ABHINAV RAWAT
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