About the Poet 

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. 

Key Points of the Poem

• The poem consists of 2 stanzas. Each of these stanzas is made up of 4 lines. Thus, the entire poem consists of 8 lines in total. 
• The poem describes a very simple happening in very simple words.
• It tells us that sometimes even a small incident may prove to be of a larger significance.
• The poet is upset in the beginning of the poem but a small incident of falling of snow changes his mood totally.
• In the end of the poem the poet feels relaxed and thankful to the nature for saving his day from being wasted.

Detailed Summary

Stanza 1

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.

Stanza 2

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.

 Theme/ Message

Theme 

• Nature's Influence: The poem explores the transformative power of nature.
• Unexpected Redemption: A seemingly mundane incident, like a crow shaking snow on the poet, leads to a positive change.
• Symbolism: The dust of snow symbolizes a moment of clarity or inspiration that changes the speaker's perspective.
• Simplicity and Beauty: The poem highlights the beauty in simple, everyday moments and the potential for these moments to bring joy.
• Escape from Melancholy: The poem suggests that even a small event in nature can lift one's spirits and provide a respite from life's difficulties.

Message

• This poem conveys the message that nothing in life is small. Even trivial things can bring positive changes in our life.  
• If we take things positively in life, situations do change for better. Even the small help or good gestures we do for others make large differences. 

 Literary Devices 

• Imagery: Frost uses simple imagery like a crow scattering snow from a hemlock tree, and the ‘dust of snow’ falling on the poet to depict the positive effect of nature on the poet.
• Alliteration: Alliteration is the occurrence of the same sound that is used in the beginning of the closely placed words.
  Has given my heart
  And saved some part
• Symbolism: Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas by giving them symbolic meaning that is different from their literal meaning.  
  The ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock tree’. The poet has used these as a symbol to show the emotions like dejection, gloom and depression. Also, he has used these as symbols to show that these ‘inauspicious’ things of nature can also change a person’s mood and mind.
  The poet is having a bad day and he is clear about that. However, to make us understand the severity of his sullen mood, he introduces us to the symbol of the hemlock tree. Hence, the hemlock tree, from which the poison is said to be made, is a symbol of death. The next symbol that the poet introduces to us is that of the crow. The crow is an ambiguous symbol and could stand for many things. Generally, the crow is considered to be the ugliest among all birds. Hence, it could be another sight to degrade the poet’s mood once again. 

• 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.

Difficult Words 

• Way—manner
• Dust—very small particles
• Dust of snow— small white flakes falling on earth
• Shook – to move with short quick movements from side to side or up and down
• Shook down—shook the snow dust down
• Hemlock—a poisonous plant with fernlike leaves and white flowers 
• Give heart – make happy and confident
• Has given my heart – has created impact on my heart and made me feel happy and confident
• Mood—state of mind
• A change of mood—a change in the present condition of mind  
• Saved—saved from being wasted
• Part—portion, fraction
• Rued—regretted deeply, felt sad deeply, lamented