Dust of Snow

Dust of Snow Dust of Snow Introduction The poem “Dust of Snow” by Robert Frost is a simple and short poem, yet with a deeper and larger meaning. The poet explains h ow an act as petty as experiencing snow on one‟s body can brigh ten one‟s day up. The message of the poem is put into words by Robert Frost: The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Word meanings Shook- shake Hemlock- a poisonous tree with small white flowers The poem is set in a scene where the poet is in a bad mood and i s walking by a tree, a hemlock tree. Hemlock tree is a poisonous tree. As he passes by, a crow happens to throw some snow dust o n him. Whether it falls on his head or shoulders is unknown as th ere is no specific mention in the poem. Also, the readers are left i n doubt about the bird‟s specific action. Whether the crow was la nding, shivering with cold, re adjusting itself on the branch or ta king off, it happened to send some particles of snow upon the au thor. Here, the two agents of nature, the hemlock tree and the cro w are signifiers of sadness and gloom just like the poet‟s mood was in the opening scene. Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued. Rued- held in regret For reasons unknown, the author was having a terrible day. But t he falling of the snow on his head lifted his mood instantly. He h ad already spent his day in a bad mood but the rest of it was save d by the crow and the hemlock tree. Generally, hemlock tree and crow are used for negative references but the poet used them bea utifully to portray that inauspicious things can bring joy and hap piness too. One must not take things for granted and should be o pen and accept whichever way the nature chooses to bless us. Dust of Snow Literary Devices i. Rhyme Scheme- abab cdcd ii. Alliteration- the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. The instances of alliteration are as followsi. Has given my heart ii. And saved some part Dust of Snow Literary Devices iii. inversion - when the structure of a sentence is changed by the poet to create rhyme, this poetic license is called inversion. In stanza 1, inversion can be seen. iv. 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. v. 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 through out the poem. Dust of Snow Summary The short poem by Robert Frost throws light upon the unimagin able healing power of nature and tiny things. From a bad mood t o ill-health, there is nothing that can‟t be cured by nature. The au thor was experiencing one such bad day when a crow‟s moveme nt near a hemlock tree dusted snow upon him. The snow instantl y makes him happier. His day gets a lot better. Thus, the supremacy of nature as a whole made him realise how petty his problem was. The fact that hemlock tree is poisonous c ombined with crow being the indicator of doom and fear are use d in the poem as the carriers of happiness in the life of narrator i s ironical. The poet, through these objects has tried to highlight t hat sometimes creatures linked with negative aspects of life can be the bringer of change and happiness. Being outdoors in natur e, with all it‟s unpredictability can benefit anyone, anywhere at a ny time. Thank you