THEME OF THE POEMS

Dust of Snow:

The short poem by Robert Frost throws light upon

the unimaginable healing power of nature and tiny
things. From a bad mood to ill-health, there is
nothing that can’t be cured by nature. The author
was experiencing one such bad day when a crow’s
movement near a hemlock tree dusted snow upon
him. The snow instantly makes him happier. His day
gets a lot better. Thus, the supremacy of nature as a
whole made him realise how petty his problem was.
The fact that hemlock tree is poisonous combined
with crow being the indicator of doom and fear are
used in the poem as the carriers of happiness in the
life of narrator is ironical. The poet, through these
objects has tried to highlight that sometimes
creatures linked with negative aspects of life can be
the bringer of change and happiness. Being
outdoors in nature, with all it’s unpredictability can
benefit anyone, anywhere at any time.
Fire and Ice

– Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice” is a strong

symbolic poem where the fire is used as the
emotion of desire and ice, that of hatred. He has
used the idea of two groups who have their own
possible explanation for the end of the world. One is
of the opinion that fire alone can destroy each and
every possibility of life on Earth while the other
thinks that if ice as a result of extremely low
temperatures could cover the earth’s surface, it
would lead to the end of the world. Both the
components are compared with self-destructing
human emotions: desire and hatred. The poet is
original of the opinion that he has been very closely
associated with the “fiery desires” and considers it
capable of bringing human beings on the verge of
destruction. Thus, he considers fire as more
competent for destruction. But then he thinks that
“icy hatred” is just as capable of ruining humans,
though slowly and steadily. Therefore, if Earth was
to end twice, ice would be just as good as fire. If a
fire would lead to rapid destruction, ice would lead
to silent damage. Similarly, if the fire is pure
passion, ice is pure reason. Thus, the poem, very
artistically, underpins the philosophy that we let our
emotions rule us and if don’t control them they will
surely bring us all on the verge of chaos.
Tiger in the zoo

The poem explains the situation of a tiger in the

zoo. The poet narrates a tiger’s erstwhile life in the
jungle when he was a free animal and now when he
is caged in the zoo. The poem begins by describing
the physical features of the tiger, which is kept in a
little cage. The poet then goes on to describe how a
tiger’s life would have been if he was in the jungle.
In the end, the poet once again explains the
situation of the tiger in the cage. The poet says that
cage life has changed the personality of the tiger.
He further elaborates that the tiger was a powerful
and brave animal in the jungle, and villagers were
terrified by his power. However, now the tiger has
been confined in the cage and has turned into a
helpless and powerless animal.

How to Tell Wild Animals Summary

The poet is describing the various wild animals.
These animals are very dangerous and she has
introduced them one by one in a very funny way.
First of all she tells us about an Asian lion. She says
that if you are visiting the jungles of the east and
there you see an animal which has tawny skin and
he roars so loudly that you will die out of fear. This
means that you have seen an Asian lion. Next in the
line is the Bengal tiger that she has explained to be
a royal animal that at once attacks and kills a man.
She says by adding humour that if this beautiful
black striped animal kills you and eats you, then you
have surely met a Bengal tiger. After this, she says
that if the reader met an animal that has black
spotted skin and it at once jumps on him, then it
means that the reader has met a leopard. Moreover,
she says that if one will cry out in pain, it maybe of
no use as the leopard will not stop attacking him.
Then she moves on to the bear that she says will
hug very tightly. This is the way to recognize a bear
as it kills a person by hugging him very tightly. So,
she says that the bear will continue to hug us tightly
and that is the only way to recognize him. After this,
she asks a question to the readers that do they
know how to recognize beasts that hunt their prey.
Here she explains about hyenas which she thinks
have a smiling face and the crocodiles that have
tears in their eyes. This can be seen when they are
killing their prey. The last one in the list is the
Chameleon. She says that it is a lizard – like
creature which doesn’t have ears and wings just like
a lizard. Only this can help you differentiate
between a lizard and chameleon. She further says
that the chameleon has a quality of changing its
color according to the colour of the surface. So, to
explain this she says that if the reader looks at the
tree and if he can only see the tree, this means that
there is a chameleon sitting on it which has already
turned its color to brown just like the branch of the
tree.
The Ball Poem

The poet is talking about a little boy who has lost

his ball. He was playing with his ball. The ball
skipped from his hand and went into the nearby
water body. The poet says that this sight of the boy
losing his favorite ball made him think about the boy
and his reaction to this situation. He further says
that the boy was helplessly looking into the water
where his ball had gone. He was sad and was
trembling with fear. He got so immersed in his
sorrow that he kept standing near the harbour for a
very long time and kept on looking for his ball. The
poet says that he could console him that he may get
new balls or he could also give him some money to
buy another ball. But he stops himself from doing so
because he thinks that the money may bring a new
ball but will not bring the memories and feelings
attached to the lost ball. He further says that the
time has come for the boy to learn his
responsibilities. Here the poet wants to say that now
the boy will learn the toughest lesson of life. The
lesson of accepting the harsh realities of life that
one day we will lose our loved ones and our loved
things.

AMANDA

The poem is about a little girl, Amanda, who is

constantly pointed out by her mother for making
mistakes. Robin Klein has beautifully expressed the
girl’s feelings in the poem about how she is
controlled and instructed by her mother for small
things. The poem conveys an important message
that children should never be deprived of their
freedom. They should not feel that their parents
constantly nag them for every single thing they do.
It’s the responsibility of the parents to bring up their
children in such a way that they understand their
viewpoint instead of getting frustrated. Children
should not feel that an orphan has more freedom
than them.
The Trees

The poet talks about trees symbolically. They refer

to women who have been healed and are ready to
move out of their houses to fulfil their primary
purpose – to renew the forest of mankind. As
women have remained indoors, the forest has
become empty, the birds and insects rendered
shelterless. The Sun’s rays do not have the tree
trucks and leaves to fall upon and thus, reach the
earth. She says that the forest will be full of trees
the next morning. The roots of the trees are working
hard to separate from the floor of the veranda where
they have remained fixed. The leaves and branches
are moving towards the glass windows. They are
desperate to move out just like a newly discharged
patient who has not recovered completely, moves to
the exit door of the hospital in a hurry. The poet is
sitting in her house with the doors of the veranda
open. She is writing letters but does not mention
this movement of the trees. It is night time, the sky
is clear and a bright moon is visible. She can smell
the leaves and lichen which seem to be calling out
desperately. She hears the glass of the window
pane breaking. The trees are moving out and the
fast blowing wind embraces them. As the trees
have reached the forest, the tall and strong oak tree
overshadows the moon and it seems that the moon
has been broken into several pieces.
Fog

The poet says that the fog which is generally seen

during the winter season is coming towards the city
and the harbour just like a cat. This means that it is
approaching the city in a very silent manner so that
no one can notice its arrival. He has compared its
arrival to that of a cat because a cat always enters a
place silently. Next he says that the fog has covered
the whole of the city and harbour and it appears as
if it is sitting by folding its legs and looking around
just the way a cat does when it sits on the haunches
and looks around. At the end, he describes the
departure of the fog which very silently and
unpredictably, again, similar to the departure of the
cat, vanishes.
Tale of custard the dragon

The tale of custard the dragon is a ballad. It is a

humorous poem about a cowardly dragon named
custard. Custard is a pet of Belinda, a little girl who
lives in a little white house with her pets. She had a
black kitten named ink, a grey mouse named blink,
a yellow dog mustard and a cowardly dragon
custard. The poet says that all of them are very
brave except the dragon. Others were described as
brave and are compared with animals like bear,
tiger or lion but the dragon is very timid. He always
demands a safe place for himself. All the other
characters make fun of him. But one night they are
surprised by the entry of a pirate in the house. All of
them get frightened and start hiding here and there.
But to everyone’s surprise, the dragon not only
tackles him but also eats him up. As all of them are
saved by custard, they thank him. But at the end,
they realize that they used to make fun of the
dragon because of his being timid. So, all of them
suddenly start saying that they are more brave and
could have handled the situation in a much better
way. Here the poet has tried to say that sometimes
a timid person is the actual hero in the toughest
situations of life.
For Anne Gregory

The poem is basically a conversation between the

poet, Yeats and a young girl named Anne Gregory.
The poet tells her that if she finds a young boy who
becomes sad because of her rejection, it doesn’t
mean that he was a true lover. He could have been
in love with her because of her beautiful yellow hair.
This means that the boy might be in love with her
because of her attractive looks. He says that a true
lover will be the one who will love her for her inner
qualities and not her looks. To this, Anne says that
she will change her looks by dying her hair into
some other colour. She will become less attractive
and then, maybe, she will find a true love for herself.
So, at last, he explains to her that the previous
night, he had heard some religious man saying that
only God loves us for what we are. This means that
God never loves us for our looks but for our inner
beauty.