Dust of Snow

In Frost’s poem, the crow, weather, and tree work together with the human speaker, and this union between human and nature lifts the speaker’s mood. The union shows how the human world impacts the natural world and vice-versa, emphasizing a positive relationship on behalf of humanity and a neutral relationship on behalf of nature.

The possibility of this interaction between the speaker and the crow is by chance, as all elements needed to be present for this event to occur. This assembly line of necessary components starts with the hemlock tree. Without the hemlock tree, there’s no dust of snow or crow. With the tree in place, snow can fall and rest on the tree branches. Once the snow settles, the crow can land on the tree and shake the snow onto the speaker, who is the final component. The result isn’t definitive happiness, but it’s a less sorrowful “mood” (Line 6), indicating a positive response. Nature, alternatively, isn’t clearly affected by the speaker’s presence. Frost thus suggests a one-way beneficial relationship between the speaker and nature, emphasizing the human perspective of the speaker. Aside from the specificity of this point of view, the speaker is also focusing on themselves and does not pay extra emotional attention and empathy to the bird or the occurrence.