Dust of Snow class 10 CBSE

                                          Dust of Snow

                                                                 By Robert Frost

Analysis: 

·        ‘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 reflective and philosophical 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 and sorrow.

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

Video on Fire and Ice

Poetic Devices:

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

Video on the poem Fog

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

Q1. 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. He could see that a beautiful and peaceful thing also can cover a posonous tree. Thus, the poet proved that the ominous and negative things like crow and hemlock and  beautiful and positive thing like snow can co exist in nature, just like that our life is a beautiful blend of joy and sorrow. He also stresses that 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, 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'.

Q2. 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.

Q3. 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

Q4. What is a dust of snow? What does the poet say has changed his mood? How has his mood changed?

Ans. Dust of snow are fine particles of snow shed by crow and this movement has changed the poet’s mood. Earlier he was gloomy and disheartened due to some sad incident in his life. But when dust of snow touched him, he became optimistic as he could see that all negative and positive elements coexist in nature and even an ominous bird like crow may fell the particles of snow which are cold, white, bright and beautiful and, represent brighter side of things in life.

Q5. How does Frost present nature in this poem? What do crow and hemlock tree represent? Why does he not talk about more beautiful birds and trees?

Ans. Generally poets describe beautiful birds like cuckoo, peacock, dove and pigeons and more attractive trees like maple and oak tree but Robert Frost breaks the tradition and uses crow and hemlock tree in his poem to represent nature in his poem. Crow represents bad omens and negativity in life and hemlock tree stands for disappointment and depression. The poet does so to emphasise that even unattractive things may do good to us and happiness and sorrow coexist in life. Hence, we need to be optimistic even in the darkest phase of our life. 

RTC 1

The way a crow              

Shook down on me          

The dust of snow            

From a hemlock tree      

Q1. Where is the crow?

Q2. What did the crow do?

Q3. Write the meaning of 'dust of snow'. 

Q4. Why is the poet under hemlock tree?

Q5. Which poetic device is predominantly used in these lines?

RTC 2

Has given my heart         

A change of mood          

And saved some part      

Of a day I had rued

Q1. What is the poet's mood now?

Q2. How has the poet's mood changed?

Q3. Write the meaning of the word 'rued'. 

Q4. What is the rhyming scheme of these lines?

Q5. Which poetic device is used in the lines 1 and 3?  

Q6. What does the poet want to convey through these lines?

Answers:

RTC 1

1. The crow is on the hemlock tree.

2. The crow made some movement, and in that movement it made the particles of snow fall over the poet.

3. The phrase 'dust of snow' means small particles of snow which symbolises here beauty, purity, peace, brightness and happiness. 

4. The poet is sitting or standing under the hemlock tree which represents death. He is shattered due to some unfavourable incident in his life and he is extremely sad, may be in suicidal mood.

5. Imagery and symbolism are predominantly used in these lines.

RTC 2

1. The poet was extremely sad, earlier but now his mood changed into positive.

2. The crow made a movement and the particles of snow fell on the poet's shoulder. This incident helped him realise that negative and positive elements are present in nature and life at the same time, and that positivity is always present however dark a phase we are in. After realising this, his mood changed into positive. 

3. The word 'rued' means feeling sad and depressed over something. 

4. ABAB

5. Alliteration is used in both these lines.

6. The poet wants to convey that negative and positive elements are present in nature and life at the same time. However dark a phase of life we are in, it brings something good with it, only we need to have right perspective to witness it. We should nurture optimistic approach towards life.