The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
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The timing for this one.... Wow!!
The meaning I find in these lines right now, really touches me deeply! I want to thank you for sharing this one... and for doing so now.
Robert Frost has always been one of my favorites poets, and for this one to shared now, means a lot to me personally! -
Meaningful lines.......
From guest David DePauw (contact)
An old English teacher here...the lines of this poem came to me after watching an email video of people dancing to Julie Andrew's "Do, Re, Me, Fa...and so on in the main train station of Antwerp, Belgium. I hope you all get the same email...or go to Youtube, you'll find it..... -
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I'm not worthy!
Although he is in the next life, he words still linger in the air... and amaze you no matter how many times you re-read it. I am not worthy to look at such art! -
Dust of Snow- change of mood
From guest George Crispi (contact)
I had a similar instant change of mood several years ago, while on my way home from a long, frustrating day's work. Quite aware of how I was feeling, and not wanting to arrive at my front door, in such a funk, I observed on the side of the road, one of those inflated men with arms flailing, (designed to attract potential customers to a particular business). The only difference was that this one had fallen, face down, beating his arms, in seeming futility against the pavement. I began to laugh heartily; all my day's cares fell by the wayside, and I was able to walk in the front door, and give my wife, and children an appropriate, loving greeting. -
Dust of Snow
From guest Ali Dimayev (contact)
This reminds me of how an actual Japanese haiku is suppose to be: related to nature and usually about just one moment in time. By chance, the subject of the poem just happens to be under the right tree, the right branch, at the right time for the crow to knock down the snow on him. Serendipity? Coincidence? I can easily imiagine this happening to me and then looking up to see that it was a crow in the tree who did it, and while looking up and seeing the sky and the sun, juxtaposed with the cold, brisk air of winter's day, I would almost automitcally just have to stop and admire nature and life in all its complexity and beauty for at least a few seconds. I love this poem. -
a rued day saved by a bath of cold snow, cold snow is unpleasant, the crow and the hemlock tree made this moment a participle for repentance, and this is the beauty no day might be so bad that a dusting of cold snow would fail to touch us and remind us..of life...PK
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I knew it!
From guest Nos (contact)
I knew I'd find a work somewhere here that has more comments than lines... -
Suddenly things falling into perspective when the dust of snow falls from the hemlock tree, shaking you into the world of the present. Beautiful and subtle.
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Just when he thought this day was a complete loss the crow redeemed the day with a downfall of soft, beautiful snow. One of natures' glories and a wonderful sight.
So few words to say so much. Beautiful.
Von - Oldpoetry Team -
Wow! I really loved this poem! Beautifully written. Too bad the composition date is not known..well anyways a beautiful piece!
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An alternate interpretation
From guest Tyler Barna (contact)
Knowing Frost is a bit of a morbid man - the Puritan in him constantly escaping to tell remind us that he is not of the elite, that he is damned, and reminding us under the guise of beauty that life is constantly miserable. Consider this: You're walking under a tree. A bird, a crow nonetheless, shakes snow onto you. The imagery here in these first two lines are all negative. Crows are never representations of good, and generally when we have snow dumped on us we're not in the greatest of spirits. I don't think those are unreasonable assumptions. The rest of the poem deceives us with happy words. We're thinking good thoughts as we read about trees and hearts and moods and salvation. But consider this: Why was this a day Frost had rued? Was it necessarily a bad day? How does a bird dumping snow on you turn a bad day around? If we change our assumptions a bit, we may come to a different meaning. Let's assume he was having a GOOD day and reread the story. A bird dumps snow on him. His good day was now turned to an assumed melancholy of his daily life. In fact, he was beginning to rue the good day because it felt like a lie. Frost's belief in Puritanism, as mentioned above, constituted in a belief that there were a fixed number of the elite - those that would go to Heaven. Frost believed that he was not among that group and his life was a waste. To be encouraged otherwise, to have a good day, would not be a cause for celebration. Rather, he would feel deceived, like something was wrong in the world. In fact, he was ruing the good day, not the bad day, and the crow dumping snow on his head put Frost's world back in alignment. Granted, my interpretation is likely not the popular interpretation, but it's certainly worthy of some consideration and adds some depth to this piece of Frost's work. -
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that IS a worthy observation I think. Certainly deservant of considerations. thanks for that, it gave insight!
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An interesting read, at the least.
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Serendipity: A moment when a surprise captures or redeems time and space. A moment or event that captures the imagination. These are just my words for a wonderful term pregnant with possibilities. I hope everyone can or has experienced what Frost has revealed in this poem. For me, I remember taking pictures (using black and white film) and everything in this one particular town was just "the same". I was discouraged and just as I was heading home, a sight caught my eyes--a dead 5 foot sunflower in a vacant field. I took the picture, and to this day it is one of my favorites. The background has an out-of-focus series of same level brownstones, but it's the sunflower's dried textures and form that dominate the photo.
Frost wasn't looking to redeem his day; it happened. A black crow causing a "dust of snow" to fall--priceless. The visuals of this poem are wonderful. I'm smiling just reading and thinking about this poem. Wow, such a small act, and what a beautiful tribute in words Frost has graced us with. -
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I can feel every slit of emotion you mentioned
And it's not just because of my complete maddened passion for Frost's work, it's because it happens to me from time to time, when I think that the pen dries from muse, and the ink fails to fall comfortly upon the waiting paper...
I look...wait....observe..
and then it happens.
Though most of my writes are introvertically proven, but it doesn't mean that I have not been inspired by both nature of earth, and natures of other beings (only a blind person will claim otherwise).
Be very well, the reason why I replied to this is your very sensual and deep approach for the poem, your honesty and transparency as you took the time to elaborate and amuse us with your delightful (relating) experience.
Be very well again,
Robert Frost never fails to stir with his might the dullest of all heart-stones.
RD.
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the poet speaks how bleak and dull his day had been... that just a dust of snow shaken by a mundane crow from a poisonous tree like hemlock ... had cheered his mood and enthusiasm for the day..
good flow of words and rhyme ... vivid expression
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best
with so few lines, a poetry written to capture all hearts. this is amazing. i must thank the crow first, for only because this poem was written -
Wonderful Robert
This was a huge poem to me. I loved the transition of words and the delightful partition. I love Robert Frost. He is a favorite of mine ,and from this particular piece you can all see why!! Pj's -
A small instance of Nature has changed a solemn upsetting day a-round. My impression of this piece.
a good piece written by Frost.
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