Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 997 views

    10 English - Dust of Snow - Notes

    Uploaded by

    Gaurav Singh
    The poem "Dust of Snow" by Robert Frost is about how a seemingly mundane event in nature can unexpectedly lift one's mood. The poet was feeling sad under a poisonous hemlock tree when a crow shook snow dust from the tree's branches onto the poet's head. This small act changed the poet's mood and saved the rest of his day from being ruined.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    10 English - Dust of Snow - Notes

    Uploaded by

    Gaurav Singh
    997 views2 pages
    The poem "Dust of Snow" by Robert Frost is about how a seemingly mundane event in nature can unexpectedly lift one's mood. The poet was feeling sad under a poisonous hemlock tree when a crow shook snow dust from the tree's branches onto the poet's head. This small act changed the poet's mood and saved the rest of his day from being ruined.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The poem "Dust of Snow" by Robert Frost is about how a seemingly mundane event in nature can unexpectedly lift one's mood. The poet was feeling sad under a poisonous hemlock tree when a crow shook snow dust from the tree's branches onto the poet's head. This small act changed the poet's mood and saved the rest of his day from being ruined.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    997 views2 pages

    10 English - Dust of Snow - Notes

    Uploaded by

    Gaurav Singh
    The poem "Dust of Snow" by Robert Frost is about how a seemingly mundane event in nature can unexpectedly lift one's mood. The poet was feeling sad under a poisonous hemlock tree when a crow shook snow dust from the tree's branches onto the poet's head. This small act changed the poet's mood and saved the rest of his day from being ruined.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Class X English

    First Flight
    Dust of Snow
    Notes

    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 how an act as petty or simple as experiencing snow on
    one’s body can brighten one’s day. The two agents of nature, the hemlock tree and the crow
    are signifiers of sadness and gloom.
    • Generally poets choose beautiful birds and trees for their poems. The poet has chosen a crow
    rather than a skylark or a nightingale. The crow, a black, dark creature, has an evil
    foreboding and is a symbol of fear, doom and death.
    • The poet has also chosen hemlock tree in place of oak, pine or maple tree. Hemlock tree is
    associated with poison and death as hemlock was the poison used to kill the great
    philosopher Socrates.
    • However, the poet has cleverly used these symbols or bad omens to signify that inauspicious
    things can bring joy and happiness, too.
    • Thus the poem teaches us a lesson that we must not take things for granted but should be
    open and accept whichever way nature chooses to bless us.

    THEME

    • Nature has healing and curing power.


    • Small events in a person’s life can have a larger significance.
    • One should hope for the best even in the worst situations.

    SUMMARY

    • The author was having a terrible day and was in a bad mood. He was standing near a
    hemlock tree which was poisonous.
    • A crow which must have perched upon the snow laden hemlock tree happened to sprinkle
    some snow dust on him.
    • The falling of the snow on his head lifted his mood instantly and his sad and depressive
    mood changed into an elated one due to the crow and the hemlock tree.

    EXPLANATION

    Stanza 1

    The way a crow


    Shook down on me
    The dust of snow
    From a hemlock tree
    The poem is set in winters as there is snow on the tree. The poet is standing under the hemlock
    tree which is a poisonous tree having small white flowers. Coincidently, a crow sitting on the
    branch of the tree, happens to shake it and some fine particles of snow dust from the tree fall on
    the poet .The crow’s specific action of shaking snow dust on the poet leaves the readers in doubt
    as it is not clearly mentioned whether the crow was preening, landing, shivering with cold or
    getting ready to fly off, but it just happened to throw some particles of snow upon the poet,
    unexpectedly. It is important to note that the hemlock tree and the crow are not merely the agents
    of nature but are also signifiers of sadness and gloom.

    Stanza 2

    Has given my heart


    A change of mood
    And saved some part
    Of a day I had rued.

    The poet, for reasons unknown, was having a terrible day. He had already spent his day in a bad
    mood but the rest of it was saved by the crow and the hemlock tree. His mood underwent a
    change from sadness to that of happiness and he found himself partially relieved due to the
    crow’s action of throwing snow dust on him. He felt that rest part of his day had been saved from
    getting wasted. Generally, hemlock tree and crow are used for negative references but the poet
    has used them beautifully to portray that inauspicious things can bring joy and happiness too.
    The crow, a harbinger of doom and fear, becomes a catalyst for positive change. Thus the
    message is clear enough. Sometimes seemingly insignificant natural events do bring about
    change. Being outdoors with nature, with all its unpredictability, can benefit anyone, anywhere at
    anytime. A person can get relief even in the worst situation.

    LITERARY DEVICES

    • Rhyme scheme: abab


    Alliteration: Has given my heart;
    And saved some part
    • Symbolism: Hemlock tree is a symbol of death. The crow is also a symbol of bad luck and
    doom.
    • Irony: A contrast between reality and expectation; between what is said and what is
    actually meant; between what appears to be true and the real truth. The action of the crow
    shaking off the dust from the hemlock tree on the poet is ironical as it has uplifted his sad
    mood and saved his day from getting ruined.
    • Enjambment: When the sentence continues to the next line without the use of any
    punctuation marks, signifying the continuity of thought. It has been used in the entire poem.
    • Inversion: When the structure of a sentence is changed by the poet to create rhyme, this
    poetic license is called inversion. An example of inversion can be seen in stanza 1.

    You might also like