Dust of Snow

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1923

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

The poem’s shape is small, replicating the image of the crow pushing the snow off the hemlock tree and onto the speaker. The image functions as a snapshot, and the poem looks like a snapshot in size.

The neat and miniature form reflects the poem’s deliberate order and the laconic speaker. The two four-line stanzas (quatrains) divide the poem’s two parts. Stanza 1 provides an image of the speaker in nature, and Stanza 2 gives a glimpse of the speaker’s feelings. The tiny size prevents the speaker from sharing further. Then again, maybe the speaker doesn’t want to say more about their state, or if the audience is a friend who already knows, nothing more needs saying.

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Lines 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 feature iambic dimeter—that is, there are two pairs of unstressed-stressed syllables. In Line 1, don’t stress “[t]he” and “a,” but stress “way” and “crow.” In Line 2, don’t stress “[sh]ook” and “on” but stress “down” and “me.” The meter creates a heartbeat-like rhythm, bringing feeling to the poem. The lines with an extra syllable reinforce the motif of unhappiness. The world is imperfect, and a person can’t excise the flaws, nor can they ignore the additional, disruptive syllable.

Enjambment

Enjambment is a literary device that specifically links to poetry. It is when the poet cuts off the line and proceeds to the next line without any punctuation mark. Frost uses enjambment for Lines 1-7, and then, when the poem ends on Line 8, he includes a punctuation mark, a period. The lack of punctuation makes the poem look crisp, which links to the clear image of the crow shaking snow off the hemlock tree and onto the speaker. The enjambment also bolsters the theme of the union between humans and nature. No punctuation interferes with the lines, and nothing disrupts the bond between the speaker, tree, crow, and snow. They work together to keep the speaker from sorrowfully looking back, and the lines, lacking punctuation, must collaborate to keep the poem moving forward.

The enjambment links to the non-binary presentation of happiness and unhappiness. The lines break off without a punctuation mark, and there isn’t a clear boundary dividing unhappiness from happiness. The lines roll into one another, and happiness and unhappiness collide. The speaker, experiencing a “change of mood” (Line 6), doesn’t finally figure out a way to distinguish happiness from unhappiness, but they learn how to deal with their unhappiness and not let it stop them or spoil their day. Similarly, to move through the poem, the reader must learn to make sense of the unmarked lines.

Setting

As the name implies, the setting is a literary device centered on the poem’s location. Frost sets his poem in nature, and the setting helps generate the themes The Relationship Between Humans and Nature and The Healing Powers of Nature. To emphasize the setting, Frost uses Stanza 1 to create a nuanced image of the environment, and the reader can see the crow shaking snow off the hemlock tree and onto the speaker. The setting positively impacts the speaker, pushing them to have a less negative outlook on their day.

The “change of mood” (Line 6) occurs in Stanza 2, suggesting the poem has two settings. There’s the tangible, exterior setting in Stanza 1, and there’s the interior setting in Stanza 2. The poem starts in the outside world before moving into the emotional world of the speaker. The two stanzas mark the different settings, but the settings are not independent. Without the external nature setting, the speaker doesn’t experience a “change” in their internal setting. The speaker’s emotional state is entangled with their physical landscape, and, arguably, the presentation of the physical landscape is just as dependent on the speaker’s emotional state. If the speaker had different feelings, they might not have been outside or susceptible to the nature around them.