Research Paper and Poem Analysis: Robert Frost “Dust of Snow,” An Exploration of Frost’s Poetry Have you ever had a day in your life that just seemed to be bad just because it wanted to be? Have you ever thought that the whole world was against you? You probably thought, “This day sucks.” Or, as some drama queens might say, “This is the worst day of my life!” In Robert Frost’s Poem, “Dust of Snow,” Frost explores the idea of one simple thing affecting the rest of your day in a positive way, even if you think the day will never get better. I believe that this poem is about allowing something to make your day better, even if what happens is a seemingly simple thing. The first stanza of the poem uses words with negative connotations. For example, Frost says, “The way a crow” (1). Crows aren’t viewed as particularly nice birds. They usually symbolize emptiness, forlorning, and fear. They symbolize the same thing here. When I’m having a bad day, I usually feel empty and alone. I think the speaker feels the same way. “Shook down on me” (2). In this line, the crow is obviously shaking snow down upon the speaker. This implies that the bird is above the speaker, and shows that the speaker feels lowly, as if a bird deserves more respect than himself. …show more content…
Frost continues with this theme in lines three and four, “The dust of snow / From a hemlock tree.” I find it very peculiar that Frost uses a hemlock tree.
This is a poisonous tree, which also gives even more negative connotations. The fact that this tree is poisonous is just adding onto the speaker’s horrible day. Frost was very wise with his word choice
here. Both the crow and the hemlock tree are symbols for bad things, but in stanza two, we see a major shift from the mood we had previously. “Has given my heart / A change of mood / And saved some part / Of a day I had rued.” (Frost 5-8).The speaker is saying that even though they thought their day couldn’t get better, it did, because of some snow falling on him. It’s ironic that the snow that fell came from a crow on a hemlock tree. Due to all of this, I think that Frost is trying to tell us that good things come from unexpected places. You may think that something is impossible to fix, but it may be fixed by someone unexpected, just when you’re not expecting it. I think that this poem was written by Frost for hopefulness. The death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or even tragic weather could have caused him to want to lose hope, but this poem was a reminder to himself to not lose hope. Going with the death of a loved one, he knew that the situation would get better eventually, but he didn’t know how. He didn’t know if there would be a magical crow on a hemlock tree for himself, or if he was going to find a way through the situation for himself. Regardless, he wanted to feel better, and if his relief came from something as simple as a dust of snow, that would be okay with him. No, Robert Frost and Frosty The Snowman Aren’t the Same Person Being the winner of four Pulitzer Prizes for literature, Robert Frost was a very accomplished writer that wrote very insightful poetry. To understand why he wrote the way he did, we must delve into the past, and take a look at his life. Robert Frost’s life began when he was born to Isabelle Moodie Frost and William Prescott Frost, Jr., on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California. Two years later, his sister, Jeanie, was born. This family lived happily in California until 1885, when Frost’s father died of tuberculosis. After that, they moved to Massachusetts, where Frost attended Lawrence High School and Dartmouth College, and where he eventually met his co-valedictorian and future wife, Elinor Frost. Shortly after their marriage, Elinor and Robert had many children, Elliot, Carol, Irma, Marjorie, and Elinor. But that didn’t keep Robert Frost from going through loss. Only four years after Elliot’s birth, he died of Cholera. Then, his daughter, Elinor, died shortly after her birth. Next, Marjorie died in childbirth, and Irma had to go to an insane asylum. Lastly, Carol committed suicide. Like I said in my poetry analysis section, it could be possible that Frost’s poem, Dust of Snow, was written with the loss of a loved one in his mind, which could’ve been one of his children. (“Chronology of Robert Frost’s Life”). Robert Frost wrote in a peculiar way; both modern and also old-school, at the same time. Robert Frost generally wrote about challenges in life (again, getting over the death of a loved one is a challenge), using amazing imagery and fantastically interesting rhyme schemes or intriguing blank verse. Due to this, it didn’t surprise me to find out that Robert Frost influenced many poets such as W.H. Auden, Ezra Pound, and Amy Lowell. (“Robert Frost”). Overall, Robert Frost was a great poet whose poetry was influenced greatly by the events in his life and everything that surrounded him. He was very accomplished, being able to boast winning four Pulitzer Prizes. I really enjoyed his poetry and learning about him. Reflecting Upon This… Every time we something bad happens to us, we always think “Why me?” and “This day is just going to keep getting worse and worse.” This is just because most of us are pessimistic
Gilbert, Roger. "Robert Frost: The Walk as Parable." Poetry Criticism, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 173, Gale, 2016. Literature Resource Center, proxy.campbell.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=nclivecu&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CH1420120652&it=r&asid=ce43321a2e99d7cd8ccbc328976c3726.
Frost uses different stylistic devices throughout this poem. He is very descriptive using things such as imagery and personification to express his intentions in the poem. Frost uses imagery when he describes the setting of the place. He tells his readers the boy is standing outside by describing the visible mountain ranges and sets the time of day by saying that the sun is setting. Frost gives his readers an image of the boy feeling pain by using contradicting words such as "rueful" and "laugh" and by using powerful words such as "outcry". He also describes the blood coming from the boy's hand as life that is spilling. To show how the boy is dying, Frost gives his readers an image of the boy breathing shallowly by saying that he is puffing his lips out with his breath.
He is almost sleeping while doing this. This creates a very powerful visual image. It epitomizes how the people left to grieve act. Many people stricken by death want to be left alone and bottle themselves up. The first few lines of the poem illustrate how deeply in sorrow the man is. This image should affect everyone. It should make the reader sympathize or even empathize with the man. Another main way he uses imagery is through the black bird or the raven. The presence of the bird is a bad omen. It is supposed to be followed by maleficent things. The bird is used to symbolize death figuratively and literally. The bird only says one word the entire poem. It repeats “nevermore.” This word can be interpreted multiple ways each time it is said. It is also possible that the bird is not talking. It is possible that the bird is an image created by
“Some say the world will end in fire,/ Some say in ice./ From what I’ve tasted of desire/ I hold with those who favor fire./ But if it had to perish twice,/ I think I know enough of hate/ To say that for destruction ice/ Is also great/ And would suffice.” This poem by Robert Frost is an excellent example of how even though people tend to think that Frost’s poems are just fun easy to read poems, a lot of them actually have dark themes to them. The poem “Fire and Ice” quoted above is a poem all about death and his prefered way to die/ destroy the world. So, although the average reader will quote Robert Frost as being a poet of positivity, yet many of his poems actually point out the dark side of human existence.
“Morning” can be taken as “mourning” and be seen as Frost grieving for a loved one. One also develops the impression that Frost is mourning a great loss, such as a sould mate, because of the line, “He would cry out on life, that what it wants/ is not its own love back in copy speech/but counter-love.” That quote shows the reader that the man was alone, so alone, that he “c...
Both authors use vivid and detailed imagery to portray a dark winter storm. Frost starts the poem by describing the chilled atmosphere. In the second line, the author denotes a harsh winter storm that “pelts with snow.” This statement, along with the line mentioned earlier, indicates that the scene is working against the characters. The word “pelt” is a key word in this sentence. Pelt may mean to attack or assault, but it can also be another word for the hide of a dead animal. This implies that the snow is so harsh that it can be classified as deadly. The title “Storm Fear” doesn’t give off a positive connotation. . Rather than mentioning the beauty of a snowflake, or describing a “winter wonderland”, the author chooses to describe the winter as if it is looking to bring an end to something (or someone). It is referred to as a “storm”, not a snowfall. “Fear” also is not positive, as it can be defined as “an unpleasant emotion”. In Ethan Frome, Wharton’s dark description of the winters in New England is prevalent throughout the work. She refers to the winter as a “sunless cold.” (pg. 8). Harmon Gow even claims that “Most of the smart ones get away [from the winte...
In the poem Birches by Robert Frost, Frost portrays the images of a child growing to adulthood through the symbolism of aging birch trees. Through these images readers are able to see the reality of the real world compared to their carefree childhood. The image of life through tribulation is the main focal point of the poem and the second point of the poem is if one could revert back to the simpler times of childhood. The language of the poem is entirely arranged through images, although it contains some diction it lacks sound devices, metaphors, and similes compared to other published works by Frost.
The poem includes personification, foreshadowing, metaphors, irony, symbols, alliteration and much more. The author uses foreshadowing throughout the poem. There are several words that start with “S” used in the poem, which is a traditional form of alliteration to convey a negative situation. For example, As well, when the doctor later comes to help, his visit is described with the phrase “dark of ether,” which is warning the reader that the boy is soon to die. The first line of the poem is, ““The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard.” The use of personification implies to the saw which is ironic. Later in the poem, the boy’s sister calls out that it is supper time, and Frost explains the buzz saw does not know what “supper” is. This is the point where tragically the youth’s hand is cut off. Two metaphors used in the poem are "Call it a day" and "No more to build on there". These two metaphors are very important and significant. The first one (call it a day) means to be done with work. The boy didn’t stop working, but if he did, his hand wouldn’t have been cut by the saw. The second one (no more to build on there) means the child’s life is over. If he did “call it a day” and went inside for supper, he would’ve still been
Robert Lee Frost was born in San Francisco, California on March 26 of 1974 and died in Boston, Massachusetts on January 29 of 1963. Though he did not truly start publishing poems until age thirty-nine, Frost obtained four Pulitzer prizes in his writing career and was deemed one of the greatest twentieth century poets. His pastoral writing and skilled use of meter and rhythm has captured the attention of reader’s and critics for decades (Academic American, 345). Frost was very fond of nature and the beauty of things around him and illustrated this in many of his poems. A reviewer stated that Frost was “always occupied with the complicated task of simply being sincere” (Faggen, I). This statement describes the writer well in the sense that Frost’s works are very full of emotion. His use of the English language and the fact that he often seemed to be holding a little something back in his writing has made him one of the most celebrated American writers ever.
bird as the metaphor of the poem to get the message of the poem across
Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is about a person the speaker, who stops near the woods when it is snowing out to take a break and look around. He notices how beautiful it is to look at the snow falling in such a peaceful way out of the dark sky.
The poem “The Road Not Taken” is written by a good poet named Robert Frost. But before people are able to read and understand the poem. They must first know what poetry is. The question most people ask when reading poetry is what is Poetry? There are various languages for poetry, it is worldwide. People from the ancient times that are primeval have used poetry. Also people that are sophisticated have refined it. Poetry gives people pleasure. Poetry can be defined as the language that will say more and be a lot more intense than reading other books. In order to understand people need to understand what it says first. Poetry has different uses, just like certain languages people speak do to. Poetry is the hypothetical and semantic content. It primarily involves the oral or literary mechanisms in which the language is used in a style that is handled by the owner and its listeners to change from ordinary writing styles.
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” show the readers similar struggles of life. “The Road Not Taken” is about taking control of one’s life and living it aside from how others live theirs. While “Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening” shows the desire for rest. Sometimes people regret the possibilities of the road not chosen, sometimes people feel proud about the road that they
The first line in the poem, “I have been one acquainted with the night.” (Frost) – suggests that Frost, or the personified character in the poem states that he has met darkness. This does not describe death, more so trials and tribulations in life that we have all faced. There doesn’t need any specifics to this, simply because not everyone’s life goes along the same track or path. The second stanza, “I have walked out in rain – and back in rain.” – is letting us know that Frost has been in and out of sadness and depression. A metaphor for such sadness could be likened to rain. The next two lines give a better description of how this poem is a better representation of how difficult life can be for us all.
As Frost initially interacts with the woods, the Birch trees, he is reminded of his memories of childhood, how he associates the trees with his own youthful activities. Frost reflects on the trees immediately in the poem, referring to how he would prefer that the Birch trees were bent over by boys at play. “When I see birches bent to left and right Across the lines of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boy’s been swinging them” (1-3). In this passage Frost begins the poem with the opinion that, as he sees the bent Birch tree, he would rather have the Birches bent over by boys. In this instance Frost displays a preference to the innocent, almost destructiveness, of children as opposed to nature having subdued the trees. Because the children who bent the Birch trees over had perceiva...