Dust of Snow

“Dust of Snow” has connections to multiple poetic genres. As the poem is short and expresses the speaker’s feelings, it qualifies as a lyric poem. The poem also has aspects in common with haikus, short poems that often capture a moment in nature. One of the most well-known haiku poets is Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694), and in “On a withered branch,” Bashō, like Frost, focuses on a crow in a tree, with Bashō writing:

On a withered branch,

a crow has come to perch—

at dusk in autumn (Bashō, Matsuo. “On a withered branch.” Circa 1680. Trans. John T. Carpenter. MetMuseum.org).

The haiku genre relies on imagery, including precise language to create a vivid picture. In Basho’s haiku and Frost’s poem, the speakers’ detailed depictions of their moments in nature produce a palpable scene. Haikus have three lines: The first and last lines have five syllables, and the middle line contains seven syllables. Frost’s poem has eight lines and two stanzas, but the lines capture the haiku sound by staying within the four-to-six-syllable range. In other words, Frost’s poem isn’t a standard haiku; however, it has the qualities and sound associated with the genre.

Setting aside the authorial context, the speaker, based on the information supplied in the poem, is unknown. They don’t have a name or a gender, so, in a close reading, it is logical to refer to the speaker with the neutral pronouns they/their. Physically, the speaker is outside, and “[t]he dust of snow” (Line 3) indicates that the speaker is going through winter or cold weather. Emotionally, the speaker is troubled, but the gloom isn’t unbreakable. The speaker finds optimism, as the snow grants the speaker “[a] change of mood” (Line 6), making a bad day—“a day [they] had rued” (Line 8)—less wearisome.

The speaker’s tone mixes casual and formal diction. The poem begins informally, as if the speaker is in the middle of a conversation with the reader. The poem’s first two words—“The way” (Line 1)—suggest that something should come before them. There’s unspoken context surrounding the poem, and the informal start pushes the reader to fill in the blank. At the same time, the speaker’s tone is formal. In Stanza 1, they narrate a dispassionate image of the crow, the hemlock tree, and the snow. The precise diction produces an unemotional tone, making the speaker sound objective or like a camera capturing a picture.

The tone is also stark, and the presence of the crow gives the poem an odious element, as crows often symbolize unsettling things. In William Shakespeare’s funereal poem, “The Phoenix and the Turtle” (1601), the crow represents an agent of death, giving and taking life. Centuries later, the English poet Ted Hughes wrote a series of poems, Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow (1970). Hughes’s crow is belligerent and discontent, not a paragon of good news. The wintery season adds to the grim tone—people often associate cold weather with dour emotions. Additionally, Hemlock is a poisonous plant, and in Ancient Greece, authorities forced the philosopher Socrates to die by hemlock for allegedly corrupting young people with his probing questions. Hemlock, winter, and crows are not cheerful words, and their inclusion generates an austere tone in the first stanza.

The tone pivots in Stanza 2, however, turning the crow, cold weather, and hemlock tree into red herrings. The presence of these false clues doesn’t mean that the speaker intends to mislead or trick the reader—rather, the speaker subverts their typical meaning. The crow pushes the snow off the hemlock tree onto the speaker, and the sequence, as the speaker states, “Has given my heart / A change of mood” (Lines 5-6). Here, the tone is personal. The speaker shares their feelings with the reader. They were feeling downcast, but now they’re less woebegone. The speaker isn’t necessarily happy, but they’re not as unhappy as Stanza 1’s stark tone indicates. The crow, snow, and hemlock tree don’t add to the speaker’s misery but alleviate it, imbuing the stanza with an optimistic tone. The speaker doesn’t have to stay somber: Change is possible.

Similarly, the subject matter and the turning point between Stanzas 1 and 2 suggest that the lens and optimism with which one views the world greatly affects how they perceive and experience life, speaking to the theme Managing Negative Feelings. Along with the speaker, the reader is led to also be pleasantly surprised that the morose details of Stanza 1 are not actually what they seem and that it’s possible these details can even bring the speaker relief or comfort. The natural elements assumed to be antagonistic end up having a cheery effect on the speaker, highlighting The Healing Powers of Nature.

While the tone becomes personable in Stanza 2, the last word preserves the somewhat stiff tone in Stanza 1 and carries this undertone throughout the rest of the poem. Referring to the snow, the speaker says it “saved some part / Of a day I had rued” (Line 7-8). The word “rued” is old-fashioned, even for a poem from the 1920s. The term is used to indicate feeling sorrow about something or experiencing regrets. The speaker could have used a less ceremonious word, but the courtly “rued” keeps some of the speaker’s detached tone that they showcase in Stanza 1.

In terms of the rhyme scheme, “rued” is necessary. The poem follows an ABAB CDCD rhyme. The lines sync, and nature works with the human speaker to brighten their day. Other devices that shape the poem include enjambment and symbolism. The lines lack punctuation, so there’s nothing between the end of one line and the start of the next line. The absence of punctuation furthers the theme The Relationship Between Humans and Nature. The poem is a unified whole—it’s a single complete sentence. Symbolism links to this theme as well, with the crow, the winter weather, and the hemlock tree helping the speaker feel less sad. By interacting with elements of nature, the speaker feels a bit better.

The small size of the poem and the offhand start suggest a specific audience. The speaker isn’t talking to a mass of people but a particular person. Though they remain relatively distant and formal, the tone indicates an intimate conversation between two people, with the speaker sharing their personal feelings about an impactful moment during an adverse day. The lack of context reinforces the discerning audience. It’s as if the speaker assumes the reader knows the context, them, or what they’re experiencing. In a sense, the reader is implied to be a friend and already has a sense of what the speaker endures.