How does Frost present nature in this poem? The following questions may help you to think of an answer.
(i) What are the birds that are usually named in poems? Do you think a crow is often mentioned in poems? What images come to your mind when you think of a crow?
(ii) Again, what is “a hemlock tree”? Why doesn’t the poet write about amore ‘beautiful’ tree such as a maple, or an oak, or a pine?
(iii) What do the ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent — joy or sorrow? What does the dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree stand for?
Answers
How does Frost present nature in this poem? The following questions may help you to think of an answer.
(i) What are the birds that are usually named in poems? Do you think a crow is often mentioned in poems? What images come to your mind when you think of a crow?
(ii) Again, what is “a hemlock tree”? Why doesn’t the poet write about amore ‘beautiful’ tree such as a maple, or an oak, or a pine?
(iii) What do the ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent — joy or sorrow? What does the dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree stand for?
In the poem, Frost presents nature in a very unconventional manner.
Generally, poets consider birds and trees to represent beauty and positive qualities such as parrot, peacock, cuckoo, etc. and trees consist of beautiful flowers and bear tasty fruits, etc. In this poem, Frost mentions of a crow in this poem, which is often not used in poems by poets. Generally, a crow is a black colour bird that has a harsh voice and is considered a symbol of bad omen. Therefore, the word ‘crow’ in the poem depicts foreboding and depressing pictures to our mind.
Frost mentions about “a hemlock tree” that is a poisonous plant having small white flowers. The poet however, didn’t choose to use a maple, pine or oak tree that symbolize beauty and joyfulness. Instead, he chose the hemlock tree while leaving aside all the beautiful trees of nature to represent his sadness and regretful feelings.
The ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ tree represent sorrow and depressing mood and feelings felt by the poet in this capitalistic world. The dust of snow symbolized a sense of natural joy and energy in him. The dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree refers to the sad and depressing moments experienced by the poet initially which were gone as he enters into a joyful and optimistic feeling.