Dust Of Snow

Summary

A poisonous hemlock tree is covered in pure, white snow. A man who is depressed is
walking under the tree. At that precise moment, the black crow of death shakes the pure,
good snow onto the man. All that goodness helps the man to change his mind. Instead, he
decides to forget the regret and sorrow to enable healing. In this way a simple moment
proves to be very significant and saves rest of the day of the poet from being wasted and
held in regret.

Comprehension Questions

1. Where and how do you find the poet in the beginning of the poem?
The poet is under the hemlock tree and he is in a sad mood.

2. Where is the crow at that time and what does it do to the tree?
The crow is sitting on the tree and it shakes the tree.

3. How is the poet’s mood changed?
The poet’s mood is changed with the falling of the dust of snow on him.

4. What happened with the rest of the day of the poet?
The rest of the day of poet was saved from ruing as he had started feeling happy and
refresh.

Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:

1. What does the poet want to convey through the poem ‘Dust of Snow’?
In the poem ‘Dust of Snow’, the poet wants to convey that sometimes certain moments
or actions which are simple have larger significance. They can change the mood or life
of a person. The way a crow shakes down dust of snow on the poet inspires and gives
him the idea to shake off his depressive thoughts, become cheerful and do something
useful.

2. What side of nature do ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent?
‘Crow’ is a black, harsh-voiced bird and ‘hemlock’ is a tree with poisonous bitter fruit.
Both are not beautiful. They represent the dark, depressive, sorrowful and bitter side of
nature.

3. Why does the poet use such poetically uncommon bird and tree? What does it reflect?
The poet seems to be in a depressive and sorrowful mood. In such a mood, one cannot
think of a sweet and beautiful side of nature. The harsh, bitter and poisonous images
come to his mind. That is why he uses an uncommon, harsh, ugly crow and poisonous
tree like hemlock.

4. Justify the role of the crow in the poem ‘Dust of Snow’ in changing the poet’s mood.
I think ‘the way snow dust was shaken off’ changed his mood. Perhaps it gave the poet
inspiration/idea to behave in the same manner—shake off his depressive thoughts and
revive his cheerful mood.

5. What mood of the poet is reflected in the poem? How is it reflected?
The sorrowful and depressive mood of the poet is reflected in the poem. The use of the
bird ‘crow’, which is ugly and harsh, and hemlock tree, which is a poisonous plant,
reflects the poet’s mood.

Answer the following questions in 100-120 words:

1. Positive attitude in life can make the world a better place to live in. Do you agree or
disagree with reference to the poem ‘Dust of Snow’? Express your views bringing out
the inherent values.
Robert Frost, in ‘Dust of Snow’, talks of how an otherwise bad day altered into a not so
bad one, due to the action of a crow. It was a seemingly disconnected occurrence that
brought about a change of mood in the poet. One lesson that can be learnt from the
poet is to see the brightness amidst the gloom. The crow, the hemlock and the snow
are all dark images, and yet, the poet sees the colour of happiness. Another lesson is
that life is made up of small joys. It is through them that one can always manage to see
positivity in negativity.

2. Our attitude towards a situation evokes both negative and positive response. Analyze
this with reference to the poem, ‘Dust of Snow’ to bring out the inherent valuable
lessons.
Whatever situation life throws at us, it evokes both positive and negative responses.
The poet, in the poem ‘Dust of Snow,’ was in a sorrowful mood. However, when a crow
shook down the ‘dust of snow’ on him, his bitter mood changed into a more optimistic
one. Now, being in a sorrowful or bad mood already, the poet could have got angry at
the crow also. However, the dust of snow becomes a positive medium of change for
him. It made him cheerful to some extent and helped him forget his sadness, at least
for a few moments. Thus, we see that instead of seeing the negative aspect of a
happening, one should see the positive aspect, and one’s response may greatly affect
the outcome of incidents.

Questions from the text book.

Thinking about the Poem

PRACTICE SHEET

Q1 Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

(a) Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

i. Who shook the dust of snow and from where?

The crow sitting on the hemlock tree shook the dust of snow from the tree.

ii. What change occurred in the poet?

When a crow shook down the ‘dust of snow’ on him, his bitter mood changed

into a more optimistic one.

iii. What do the ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ symbolise?

‘Crow’ is a black, harsh-voiced bird and ‘hemlock’ is a tree with poisonous bitter

fruit. Both are not beautiful. They represent the dark, depressive, sorrowful and

bitter side of nature.

iv. Find the synonym of the word ‘rattled’.

shook

(b) Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

i. Of what change does the poet mention here?

The poet mentions the change of mood here.

ii. Whose part of the day has been saved?

The poet’s part of the day has been saved.

iii. What did the poet think of that day?

The poet had earlier wasted that day, but later saved the part of the day after his

mood changed.

iv. Give the synonym of ‘rued’.

regretted

Q2 Answer the following questions in 30-40 words.

(a) What does the poet want to convey through the poem ‘Dust of Snow’?

In the poem ‘Dust of Snow’ the poet wants to convey that sometimes certain

moments or actions which are simple have larger significance. They can change

the mood or life of a person. The way a crow shakes down dust of snow on the

poet inspires and gives him the idea to shake off his depressive thoughts,

become cheerful and do something useful.

(b) Justify the role of the crow in the poem ‘Dust of Snow’ in changing the poet’s mood.

The way the snow dust was shaken off’ changed the poet’s mood. Perhaps it

gave the poet inspiration/idea to behave in the same manner—shake off his

depressive thoughts and revive his cheerful mood.

Q3 Answer the following questions in 100-120 words.

(a) Our attitude towards a situation evokes both negative and positive response. Analyze

this with reference to the poem, ‘Dust of Snow’.

Whatever situation life throws at us, it evokes both positive and negative

responses. The poet, in the poem ‘Dust of Snow,’ was in a sorrowful mood.

However, when a crow shook down the ‘dust of snow’ on him, his bitter mood

changed into a more optimistic one. Now, being in a sorrowful or bad mood

already, the poet could have got angry at the crow also. However, the dust of

snow becomes a positive medium of change for him. It made him cheerful to

some extent and helped him forget his sadness, at least for a few moments.

Thus, we see that instead of seeing the negative aspect, one should see the

positive aspect, and one’s response may greatly affect the outcome of incident.