Dust of Snow is a beautiful short poem written by Robert Frost. It is only eight lines long and seems to be the simplest of short poems. With full end rhyme and short lines, on the surface the two stanzas appear to be nothing more than a snapshot of a trivial event concerning a crow, a tree, snow and a human being.
But, as always with Frost, you know that beneath the surface there will be something thoughtful, deeper worlds of meaning and possibility. As Frost himself wrote:
It is what is beyond that makes poetry – what is unsaid in any work of art. Its unsaid part is its best part.
In the poem, the poet says that once he was in a sad, depressive mood and was sitting under a hemlock tree. A crow, sitting on the same tree, shook off the dust of snow i.e., small particles of snow that remain on the surface after the snowfall, on the poet. This simple action changed the poet’s mood. He realized that he had just wasted a part of his day repenting and being lost in sorrow. But the change in his mood made him realize that he should utilize the rest of the day in some useful activity. His sorrow was washed away by the light shower of snow dust. His spirit was revived and he got ready to utilize the rest of the day.
Dust of Snow has as its main themes:
- communication between nature and humans.
- nature healing and helping with negative human emotions.
- the significance of small natural events