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.