Dust of Snow is one of the finest poems of Robert Frost. Here is an attempt to help the students understand the poem.

1. DUST OF SNOW
Robert Frost
3/24/2024
© 2024 by Tanmoy Mishra 1
Summary of the poem
Landscape of the poem
Themes of the poem
Message of the poem
Use of literary devices
Importance of rhythm in this poem

2. SUMMARY
3/24/2024
© 2024 by Tanmoy Mishra 2
 The poet was sad for some unknown reason. He was
experiencing something which was profoundly upsetting.
 He came out of his house.
 A crow perched on one of the branches of a hemlock tree.
 The poet was under the hemlock tree.
 Flakes of snow fell onto the poet as the crow was shaking.
 Nature finds a way to put these bad feelings into perspectives.

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© 2024 by Tanmoy Mishra 3
LANDSCAPE OF THE POEM
New England is a region comprising six
states in the north-eastern United States
(North America).

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THEMES OF THE POEM
 Communication between nature and human
beings
 Healing capacity of nature (with negative
human emotions)
 The significance of small natural events in
life
 Instead of taking petty things seriously, we
should take things positively.
 Good times come after bad times if we see
through the tough phases.

5. MESSAGE OF THE POEM
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© 2024 by Tanmoy Mishra 5
 We are part of nature which is larger than
ourselves.
 Our worries and sorrows are very
negligible in the grand scheme of nature.
 Timing plays a very vital role in everyone’s
life.
 Each object of nature has a unique quality.
It is not the crow’s unpropitious and sinistrous
presence but the otherness of the crow that
helps the poet change his mood.
 The poem reiterates that everything in
nature is exquisitely beautiful. We have to
choose whichever way nature chooses to bless
us.

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© 2024 by Tanmoy Mishra
6
USE OF LITERARY DEVICES
Internal Rhyme: way (line 1) and day (line 8)
Enjambment: Each line runs into the next line without any punctuation mark.
Synechdoche: …given my heart…
Allusion: hemlock tree, saved some part (associated with religion)
Alliteration: …saved some…
Metaphor: snow flakes to dust
Irony: A crow symbolises bad omens and a hemlock tree symbolises death. Instead
of foreshadowing death, the crow affirms life. Instead of finding snow dusting
unpleasant, the poet finds it refreshing.
Consonance: crow shook
Juxtaposition: The poem juxtaposes two fundamentals – human complexity
(complex interior of the poet) and animal simplicity (instinct driven natural world).
Symbolism: Crow (death), hemlock tree (death) and snow (purity and renewal)
Imagery: Visual, kinesthetic, etc.

7. IMPORTANCE OF RHYTHM
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© 2024 by Tanmoy Mishra 7
The rising rhythm of the
poem adds more to the
optimistic tone of the poet.
da DUM, da DUM…da da DUM
da DUM, da DUM…da da DUM
SOME AUTHORITIES CONSULTED:
1. Poems by Robert Frost (William H. Pritchard and Peter
Davison)
2. www.owlcation.com
3. www.wikipedia.org
4. www.britannica.com