Analysis of the poem for high school learners

1. A Hard Frost
Cecil Day Lewis

2. A Hard Frost
A frost came in the night and stole my world
And left this changeling for it - a precocious
Image of spring, too brilliant to be true:
White lilac on the window-pane, each grass-blade
Furred like a catkin, maydrift loading the hedge.
The elms behind the house are elms no longer
But blossomers in crystal, stems of the mist
That hangs yet in the valley below, amorphous
As the blind tissue whence creation formed.

3. The sun looks out and the fields blaze with diamonds
Mockery spring, to lend this bridal gear
For a few hours to a raw country maid,
Then leave her all disconsolate with old fairings
Of aconite and snowdrop! No, not here
Amid this flounce and filigree of death
Is the real transformation scene in progress,
But deep below where frost
Worrying the stiff clods unclenches their
Grip on the seed and lets
the future breathe.

4. Cecil Day-Lewis:
▪ Born 27 April 1904, died on 22 May 1972.
▪ He was an Anglo-Irish poet and the Poet Laureate of the United
Kingdom from 1968 until his death in 1972.
▪ Day-Lewis was born in Ballintubbert, Ireland.
▪ He was the son of Frank Day-Lewis and Kathleen
▪ After the death of his mother in 1906, Cecil was brought up in
London by his father.
▪ He was educated at Sherborne School and atWadham College,
Oxford. In Oxford.

5. Cecil Day-Lewis:
▪ In 1928 he married Constance Mary King, the daughter of a
Sherborne master (i.e. teacher), and worked as a schoolmaster.
▪ During the 1940’s he had a long and troubled love affair with the
novelist Rosamond Lehmann.
▪ His first marriage was dissolved in 1951, and he married actress Jill
Balcon.
▪ Cecil Day-Lewis died from pancreatic cancer on 22 May 1972, aged
68, at Lemmons.

6. Summary:
▪ This poem is describing the beautiful scene the poet saw one day he woke
up in winter morning.
▪ The most prominent imagery used is the frost and snow, likening them to
brilliant white diamonds, which shine and reflect in the sunlight.
▪ These are used to portray a beautiful scene of white snow spreading all over
the forest.
▪ Usually the forest inWinter gave people a sense of cruelty, harshness and
lifeless, but after having a white frost coating on the dead trees, mountains,
everything seemed to become glamorous and attractive
▪ Besides portraying the stunning scenery, the poet also wanted to relate the
transformation in nature to human life cycle which lies beneath the cold
and snow.

7. A frost came in the night and stole my world
And left this changeling for it - a precocious
Image of spring, too brilliant to be true:
White lilac on the window-pane, each grass-blade
Furred like a catkin, maydrift loading the hedge.
The elms behind the house are elms no longer
But blossomers in crystal, stems of the mist
That hangs yet in the valley below, amorphous
As the blind tissue whence creation formed.
A thin layer of ice that
forms when the air
becomes cold.
The image of the thief in the night who
takes whilst the occupants are
sleeping. His “world” has been
transformed or “stolen” by the frost
and is no longer the same.
A baby that is
secretly left to
replace another
baby. A child that has
certain attributes of an
adult at a very early
age
In this case the
day is sunny and
bright and looks
like it may be
spring.
The white is unreal and
the frost on the window
panes creates patterns.
Having no form
or shape, like
the mist.
The mists and swamps
of primordial ooze from
which life is said to have
emerged.

8. The sun looks out and the fields blaze with diamonds
Mockery spring, to lend this bridal gear
For a few hours to a raw country maid,
Then leave her all disconsolate with old fairings
Of aconite and snowdrop! No, not here
Amid this flounce and filigree of death
Is the real transformation scene in progress,
But deep below where frost
Worrying the stiff clods unclenches their
Grip on the seed and lets
the future breathe.
The sun and fields
mock spring
because nothing
grows in winter.
The reflection of the sun on
the ice looks like a field of
sparkling diamonds
The frost is “new
clothing” for the
fields and it makes
the plain country
look like a newly
adorned bride for a
while until it melts.
A poisonous root
A white flower
Exaggerated
and ornamental.
More for show
than of real
substance
Though the changes
are noticeable
above the ground
the real changes are
happening below.

9. Analysis:
▪ This poem deals with the change that is seen in the morning after the
frost has settled overnight:
– The poet highlights the beauty and the purity of the scene and
through a series of comparisons paints an evocative picture of the
landscape.
– Much of the language used in these comparisons is archaic or
unfamiliar, so use of the note and a dictionary is vital to understand
those unfamiliar descriptions.
▪ The first stanza ends with a description of the mist enshrouding a
valley.The poet alludes to the primordial mists that covered the
earth in the creation.

10. Analysis:
▪ This introduces one of the major themes underpinning the poem,
that of the transformation and rebirth that is part of the cyclical
process of nature.
▪ This is further developed in the last lines of the poem where the poet
states that though the weather is bleak and harsh but under the
ground the seeds of summer are already preparing for their new
lives.
▪ In the middle of stanza two the poet likens the scenery in purity and
beauty to a bride adorned for her wedding, however he is quick to
point out that this is a fleeting transformation and the “bride” will
soon return to ”a raw country maid” with the melting of the frost by
the sun.

11. Analysis:
▪ He ends the poem by saying that all the beauty and ornamentation
of the ice, frost and snow is really meaningless.
▪ This is because the real “work” of regeneration and procreation is
happening under the frost and soil in the ground as the seedlings
prepare for the summer.

12. Questions:
1. What is the tone of this poem? Give quotes to support your answer?
(3)
2. What is the poet’s feelings towards the morning frost? Explain your
answer. (4)
3. Discuss the imagery in the first stanza. Substantiate your response.
(4)
4. Discuss the image of the the bride in the poem? (3)
5. What is the message in the last five lines of the poem? (3)