8. Analysis of the poem

The poem, "Dust of Snow", is written by Robert Frost. Observed for its brevity, the poem deals with a seemingly trivial yet picturesque incident involving a crow, a pine tree, snow dust, and the speaker. It is divided into two stanzas with four lines each.

 

 In a matter of \(8\) lines, the poet discusses profound themes such as life, death, time, and the speaker’s understanding of nature. He also brings out the transition of one's temperament from darkness to light. The poem also teaches its readers the importance of perspectives. For instance, the speaker’s perspective and perception eventually pulled him out of his gloominess. Another significant observation in this poem is the role reversal: the symbol of a crow is typically associated with tragedy and death but has been given the opposite meaning in the poem. So is the case with the event described in the poem: a crow shaking some snow dust off it. It is a scene that is unlikely to inspire any meaningful thoughts.  However, the speaker helps us understand how an incident of no consequence can have deeper meaning and a life-changing outcome. The poem teaches us how little things in lives are never truly little; ‘a small leak can sink a ship’* while a small seed can grow into huge trees. To quote Bible, ‘Mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree’.** (Matthew 13:31-32)