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Dust of Snow

Thinking about the Poem

Question 1: What is a "dust of snow"? What does the poet say has changed his mood? How has the poet's mood changed?

Answer 1:

A "dust of snow' means the fine, smooth particles of snow. This "dust of snow" changed the poet's

mood. The poet's mood changed from that of disappoin tment to happiness. He was holding the day in disappoin tment when this dust of snow fell on him and this effortless littl e thing brough t him some joy.

Question 2: How does Frost present nature in this poem? The following Questions may help you to think of an Answer.

(i)    What are the birds that are usually named in poems? Do you think a crow is often mention ed in poems? What images come to your mind when you think of a crow?

(ii)   Again, what is "a hemlock tree"? Why doesn't the poet write about a more 'beautiful' tree such

as a maple, or an oak, or a pine?

(iii)  What do the 'crow' and 'hemlock' represent -joy or sorrow? What does the dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree stand for?

Answer 2:

Frost has put forward the nature in quite an unusual manner.

(i)    While in other poems based on nature, we come across birds such as nightingales or sparrows. Frost has used a crow in this poem. A crow can be associated with something dark, black, and threatening. That is why other poets usually m ention singing nightingales or beautiful white doves in their poems.

(ii)   The poet has also written about a hemlock tree, which is a toxic tree. He has not written about

any beautiful tree such as a maple, or oak, or pine because these trees are a symbol of splendour and happiness. Frost wanted to represent the belief of sorrow and feeling apologetic, which is why he has used a hemlock tree.

(iii)  The crow and the hemlock tree both represent grief. The dust of snow that is shaken off the hemlock tree by the crow stands for happiness that Frost experiences. That is why, he has used an unconventional tree and bird in order to compare them with joy in the form of snow.

Question 3: Have there been times when you felt depressed or hopeless? Have you experienced a similar moment that changed your mood that day?

Answer 3:

There have been innumerable times when I felt depressed and hopeless. These situations come due to various beha viour and attitude of other but sometime it comes due to loneliness. Once I was very upset, I was on my balcony. I saw two puppies playing on the road. This little joy changed my mood and I felt very happy for the rest of the day. I went to road and tried to feed them milk.

Fire and Ice

Thinking about the Poem

Question 1: There are many ideas about how the world will 'end'. Do you think the worl d will end some day? Have you ever though t what would happen if the sun got so hot that it 'burst', or grew colder and colder?

Answer 1:

Yes, I beli eve that this world will definitely end someday but when and how is not known. Whet her the sun gets hot or cold, in both the circumstances end of this world is sure.

Question 2: For Frost, what do 'fire' and 'ice' stand for? Here are some ideas:

greed       avarice

conflict    fury insensitivity     coldness cruelty

intolerance      indifference           lust rigidity    hatred

Answer 2:

'Fire' here stands for voracity, greed, envy, disagreement and anger. 'Ice' stands for unkindness, prejudice, rigidity, insensitivity, coldness, lack of sympathy and hatred.

Question 3: What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it hel p in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?

Answer 3:

The rhyme scheme of the poem is: a, b, a, a; b. c, b, c, b.

The contrasting ideas of 'fire' and 'ice' are presented using this rhyme scheme. Both fire and ice are possibl e ends of this world. While the poet ta lks about how fire represen ts craving and can therefore be responsible for the end of the world, He mentions ice in between to represent that the chilliness and indifference towards one another will also be sufficient to end the world. In the second stanza, he says that he knows of pl enty hatred in the world to be sure that even devastation through ice would be sufficient to bring about the end of the world.