DUST OF SNOW

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude to respected
teacher Mrs.SHEBA as well as our respected
principal DR.LYDIA GEORGE who gave us the
golden oppurtunity to do this wonderful project .Their
wonderful guidance and motivation helped me to
understand th intricate issues involved in making this
project and its effective presentation .

While doing this project ,I learnt lots of things and

moreover I got lot of inspiration and ideas for my
future also.

Finally words are not sufficient to express my

gratitude to my parents and friends who helped and
supported me a lot in completing this project within
the given limited time .
This is to certify that J.K.GURUSRINIVAAS
0f class 10 has Successfully completed this
project work in English on for the session
2022-2023 under my supervision.

REGISTER NUMBER :
DATE :

Internal External Examiner Examiner

1) Introduction
2) About author
3) Summary
4) Hard words
5) Theme
6) Explanation
7) Question and answer
INTRODUCTION
Robert Frost, a well-known American
poet of nature, in this poem, he presents a
moment that seems simple but has a larger
significance. It is a highly symbolic poem.
One day the poet was in a depressed mood. A
pleasant thing happened under a tree. It
changed the poet’s mood. It saved the rest of
the day for the poet.
About the author
(1874–1963 )
Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, but his family
moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1884 following
his father’s death. The move was actually a return, for
Frost’s ancestors were originally New Englanders, and
Frost became famous for his poetry’s engagement
with New England locales, identities, and themes.
Frost graduated from Lawrence High School, in 1892,
as class poet (he also shared the honor of co
valedictorian with his wife-to-be Elinor White), and
two years later, the New York Independent accepted
his poem entitled “My Butterfly,” launching his status
as a professional poet with a check for $15.00. Frost's
first book was published around the age of 40, but he
would go on to win a record four Pulitzer Prizes and
become the most famous poet of his time, before his
death at the age of 88.

To celebrate his first publication, Frost had a book of

six poems privately printed; two copies of Twilight
were made—one for himself and one for his fiancée.
Over the next eight years, however, he succeeded in
having only 13 more poems published. During this
time, Frost sporadically attended Dartmouth and
Harvard and earned a living teaching school and, later,
working a farm in Derry, New Hampshire. But in
1912, discouraged by American magazines’ constant
rejection of his work, he took his family to England,
where he found more professional success. Continuing
to write about New England, he had two books
published, A Boy’s Will (1913) and North of Boston
(1914), which established his reputation so that his
return to the United States in 1915 was as a celebrated
literary figure. Holt put out an American edition of
North of Boston in 1915, and periodicals that had once
scorned his work now sought it.

Frost’s position in American letters was cemented

with the publication of North of Boston, and in the
years before his death he came to be considered the
unofficial poet laureate of the United States. On his
75th birthday, the US Senate passed a resolution in his
honor which said, “His poems have helped to guide
American thought and humor and wisdom, setting
forth to our minds a reliable representation of
ourselves and of all men.” In 1955, the State of
Vermont named a mountain after him in Ripton, the
town of his legal residence; and at the presidential
inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961, Frost was
given the unprecedented honor of being asked to read
a poem. Frost wrote a poem called “Dedication” for
the occasion, but could not read it given the day’s
harsh sunlight. He instead recited “The Gift Outright,”
which Kennedy had originally asked him to read, with
a revised, more forward-looking, last line.
 Summary
It is winter season and the poet is in a bad mood
sitting quietly under the hemlock tree covered all over
the snow. On spur of moment, a crow sitting on the
branch of the tree shakes the tree, and the snow from tree
falls on the poet. The snow is cold and velvety to touch
which changes the poet’s mood from bitter to elate. This
fills him with a refreshing feeling. This moment was very
compelling and saves his day from disappointment. The
black crow usually symbolizes bad omen and emblem of
death and fear. Since the crow is not related to goodwill,
it is ironic that during this poem he did an honest deed by
shaking off the snow.
Robert Frost did not prefer to use any other trees like oak,
maple or pine. He chose the hemlock which is typically
related to poison and toxicity. Similarly, he uses dust
which is useless to anybody and nobody wants to be
liking dust. But the poet uses it as an impulse that brings
positive thoughts in mind. Anyway, the alluring snow that
adorns the poisonous hemlock tree’s branches is shaken
 off by a scary crow. We have toxic hemlock covered in
pure, white snow, and a person who is depressed, getting
to kill himself and walking under the tree. The black crow
throws the snow on the poet. The feels of pure cold snow
alter his mind about sacrificing his life. On the contrary,
he decides to forget the regrets of his life and sorrow to
follow the path of healing of the inner soul.
This poem conveys the message that nothing in life is
small. Even trivial things can bring positive changes in
our life. In addition to this, it also shows that if we take
things positively in life, situations do change for better.
Even the small help or good gestures we do for others
make large differences. Just believe those random acts of
kindness we do and the way they brighten a person’s day,
and sometimes change their future. Noticing and
appreciating all the tiny things in life will make our life
happier.
Hard words

1 Shook shake vibrate, tremble, quiver 2 Rued held in regret

depreciate, repent, pity 3 Change to become different transfer,
realignment,
reconstruction
4 Crow a bird squawk, screech, hoot 5 Day a period of 24 hours period,
time, era 6 Dust very small pieces of dry dirt dirt, mullock 7 Heart the
organ inside your chest Bosom, cardia, cordis 8 Hemlock a poisonous tree
with small white flowers …..........
9 humour, temper,
Mood the way that you are feeling at disposition
a particular time
10 Part one of the pieces, areas, periods, things, etc portion, section, piece
11 that fall from the sky
Saved to keep somebody/something
safe from death, harm, loss, etc. Liberate, deliver, extricate flakes,
12 snowdrift,
Snow white pieces of frozen water snowfield

Explanation
The way a crow Shook
down on me The dust of
snow From a hemlock
tree

Explanation : In this stanza, the poet is talking about a winter’s

day when all the tree tops were covered in masses of
snowflakes. The poet was walking under one such snow covered
tree. This was the North American conifer, known as the
hemlock, named so because its smell resembles that of the
European plant from which the poison known as hemlock was
made. Hence, by virtue of its name, this tree was not one that you
could associate with anything positive. However, a crow alighted
on this tree suddenly, and because of that sudden motion, the
mass of snowflakes atop it fell down on the poet like rain. The
snowflakes were so light and miniscule that the poet thought they
looked like white and immaculate dust particles (if indeed, dust
particles could ever be white). This shower of snowflakes from
the hemlock tree is evidently the subject matter of this poem,
since it touched the poet in some way.
Has given my heart A
change of mood
And saved some part Of
a day I had rued.

Explanation : In this stanza, the poet explains to us

exactly in what way the shower of snowflakes had an
effect on him. He says that it changed his mood. That is
to say, he had
been in a sullen or despairing mood, and the snowflakes
falling on him, all of a sudden, gladdened his heart. In
addition to this, there was another effect that the shower
of snowflakes had on the poet. He says that, that
particular day was one that he had not been looking
forward to, and in fact, it was not going too well either. He
had decided, in his mind, that that particular day would go
waste.
However, the shower of dust-like snow on his shoulder
changed his mind. It made him feel that the day had not
been a complete waste. At least, some part of that day
had been pleasant, since it had given him a new
experience that he could treasure.

Syntax and structure

The poem has two stanzas of four lines each. The lines are short.
In fact there is only one sentence which is split into eight lines of
the poem.
GLOSSARY

Hemlock-a poisonous plant with small white flower;

Dust of snow-fine powdery snow flakes;
Saved some part-prevent some time from being wasted;
Rued- regret bitterly.
Conclusion

The poem teaches us a lesson that every small act in life can
illuminate our soul and motivate us to do better.
 Question and answer
Question 1.
What made the poet change his mood?
Answer:
A crow on the hemlock tree shook down the dust of snow on the
poet. The falling dust of snow on the poet has changed his mood.
Question 2.
Why does the poet feel that he has saved some part of the day?
Answer:
Crow shook down the dust of snow on the poet. Both crow and
hemlock tree are considered inauspicious. The falling of dust of
snow from hemlock tree is bad omen. But the poet took it in a
positive way. He found himself relieved from sorrow after this
incident. Now he could use his entire day in a fruitful way.
Question 3.
What was the reaction of the poet when the dust of snow fell on
him?
Answer:
Normally, people thought both crow and hemlock tree are
auspicious. But when the dust of snow from hemlock tree fell on
poet, he took it in other way. He was depressed and sorrowful
but the moment the crow shook the hemlock tree and dust of
snow fell on him, he felt unburdened and relieved.
Question 4.
How does the poet react to crow and hemlock tree? Answer:
Crow and hemlock tree are considered inauspicious in the west.
They are generally taken /is bad omen. But the poet did not take
them in negative way. They saved his day. His negative outlook
changed to the positive one.
Question 5
.The poet was sad and depressed. But one comical incident lifts
his spirits. He is full of joy and happiness again. Based on your
reading of the poem, write a paragraph on the topic – Happiness
is relative.
Answer:
No one is always happy. It is just a passing phase of one’s life. It
varies from time to time and place to place. It depends on certain
people who you are close to. There are times when we are
extremely happy or sorrowful. In most circumstances, our
happiness is decided l>y certain moments in our life. Some light
moments can really enliven our mood. The actions of our friends
can make us happy or sometimes sorrowful. We must also realize
that on every cloud there is a silver lining. This means that every
sorrowful moment is followed by a period of joy and happiness.