Table of contents | |
About the Poet | |
Key Points of the Poem | |
Detailed Summary | |
Theme/ Message | |
Literary Devices | |
Difficult Words |
Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech,Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New England in the early 20th century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes.
In this poem, the poet is talking about a winter’s day when all the treetops were covered with snowflakes. The poet was walking under one such snow-covered tree. This was a Hemlock tree. The hemlock tree is usually associated with poison and toxicity as a poison named Hemlock is also made. Thus, this tree cannot be associated with anything positive. However, a crow came and sat down on this tree suddenly, and because of this sudden motion, the mass of snowflakes from the top fell on the poet like rain. The snowflakes were so light and small that the poet thought they looked like white and immaculate dust particles (if indeed dust particles could ever be white). This shower of snowflakes from the hemlock tree is the subject matter of this poem since it touched the poet in some way.
Now in the second stanza, the poet explains exactly in what way the shower of snowflakes had an effect on him. He says that it changed his mood. Earlier, he had been in a despairing mood but the shower of the snowflakes falling on him all of a sudden gladdened his heart. In addition to this, there was another effect that the shower of snowflakes had on the poet. He says that that particular day was one that he had not been looking forward to, and in fact, it was not going too well either.
He had decided, in his mind, that that particular day would go to waste. However, the shower of dust like snow on his shoulder changed his mind. It made him feel that the day had not been a complete waste. At least some part of that day had been pleasant since it had given him a new experience that he could treasure as well as the material for another one of his wonderful poetic compositions.
Message
Inversion: When the structure of a sentence is changed by the poet to create a rhyme, the poetic license is called inversion. In stanza 1, the poetic device ‘inversion’ is used.
Enjambment: In enjambment, the same sentence continues to the next line without the use of any punctuation marks.
This poem is very good example of this poetic device. It is used throughout the poem. The lines of stanzas flow to the next line without any punctuation.
Metaphor: This poetic device is used when a covert comparison is made between two different things or ideas. In this poem, the poet uses the device of metaphor in the 3rd line of the 1st stanza, when he compares the mass of snowflakes atop the hemlock tree with dust.
Synecdoche: This poetic device is used in many ways to represent one thing with the help of an entirely different one. In this poem, the poet uses this device to represent the whole in the 1st line of the 2nd stanza. He says that his “heart” has undergone a change of mood because the crow has made the snowflakes from the hemlock tree rain down on him. However, he is now experiencing a better mood as a result of the actions of the crow.
Assonance: the prominence of a vowel sound throughout a line is called assonance.
In stanza 1, line 2, ‘‘Shook down on me’’, ‘O’ sound is prominent.
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