This post of KhulkarSeekhen provides solutions of Class 10th English First Flight poem Dust of Snow by Robert Frost. I recommend first read the summary of Dust of Snow to understand the Thinking about the Poem Dust of Snow questions better.
Poem:
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
Poet: Robert Frost
Glossary:
- hemlock: a poisonous plant (tree) with small white flowers
- rued: held in regret
Dust of Snow Thinking about the Poem Question Answer
1. What is a “dust of snow”? What does the poet say has changed his mood? How has the poet’s mood changed?
Ans. A “dust of snow” means the fine particles or tiny flakes of snow that had settled on the hemlock tree, so light and powdery that they fall like dust. The poet says that the way the crow shook the dust of snow down on him from the hemlock tree is what changed his mood. The poet’s mood changed from despair to hope, and from sorrow to a quiet cheerfulness.
2. How does Frost present nature in this poem?
Ans. Frost presents nature as a healer and a source of joy, but he does so without choosing anything conventionally beautiful. He deliberately picks the crow and the hemlock tree, both associated with gloom, and shows that even these can become the means of restoring a person’s spirit. Nature needs no grand or dramatic gesture: a tiny, accidental shower of snow-dust is enough to transform a man’s whole day. The poem thus suggests that nature is always at work for man’s good, and that we should look for beauty and comfort even in ordinary, unlovely things. It also carries Frost’s own idea that “a little thing touches a larger thing”; a small moment can hold a large meaning.
(i) What are the birds that are usually named in poems? Do you think a crow is often mentioned in poems? What images come to your mind when you think of a crow?
Poets usually write about birds considered beautiful or sweet-voiced: the nightingale, the skylark, the cuckoo, the robin, the swan, the dove, the peacock, the sparrow.
No, a crow is very rarely mentioned in poems. It is black, plain-looking and harsh-voiced, so poets generally avoid it.
The crow brings to mind blackness, a rough unpleasant caw, dirt and rubbish heaps, and in many cultures it is treated as a bird of ill omen, a symbol of gloom, death and misfortune.
(ii) Again, what is “a hemlock tree”? Why doesn’t the poet write about a more ‘beautiful’ tree such as a maple, or an oak, or a pine?
A hemlock is a poisonous tree bearing small white flowers. It is neither beautiful nor useful, and it is traditionally linked with poison and death.
The poet does not choose a maple, an oak or a pine because he does not want beauty here. He needs objects that stand for sorrow and gloom, so that the contrast becomes striking: the joy comes from the very sources one would expect only bitterness from. By using the crow and the hemlock, Frost shows that happiness can arrive from the most unlikely and unattractive places, and that even the sad, “poisonous” moments of life can carry the seed of healing.
(iii) What do the ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent — joy or sorrow? What does the dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree stand for?
The crow and the hemlock tree represent sorrow, sadness, gloom, depression and the darker, harsher side of life.
The dust of snow stands for joy, hope and healing. Snow is white and pure, the opposite of the black crow and the poisonous tree. It represents the small, unexpected moment of natural beauty that washes away the poet’s sadness, gives his heart a change of mood and saves the rest of a day he had already regretted.
3. Have there been times when you felt depressed or hopeless? Have you experienced a similar moment that changed your mood that day?
Sample answer: Yes. Once I performed badly in a mathematics test and came home feeling that I was hopeless at the subject and that the whole day had been wasted. I sat sulking by the window, refusing even to eat. Just then I noticed a pair of sparrows patiently carrying bits of straw, one after another, to build a nest above the window frame. They must have made twenty trips without once giving up. Watching them, I found myself smiling, and my gloom quietly disappeared. That small, ordinary sight changed my mood completely; like Frost’s dust of snow, it saved a day I had already regretted, and it sent me back to my books with fresh determination.
(Answers to this question will vary from student to student; write about your own experience.)
