Robert Frost
Frost wrote this poem from the perspective of a person who is likely in a forest and thinking of committing suicide. However, the person changes their mind after a crow shakes snow of a hemlock tree and onto the person. Crows are usually connected with death and fear. Hemlock is a plant that is highly poisonous that has been used to commit suicide throughout history. The "dust of snow" is the last layer of snow that is very white and powdery. White is a color that is typically associated with purity, in this case purity of the mental state of severe depression. The poem is ironic due to a crow shaking the dust of snow off a hemlock tree and onto a person, who was contemplating suicide, thus causing the person to rethink their suicidal plans and decides to live. So two symbols of death and fear are used to helped a person. The tone reflects this irony. The tone of the poem is almost neutral, though it has a hint of remorse and humor mixed into it. It displays remorse in a slight tone of regret that he either didn't go through with his plan or that he had even considered it. However, the speaker uses, and emphasizes, humor to play off his remorse. He makes wonderful use of irony and symbolism to add humor to what would normally be a rather dark poem. The tone really helps the reader to visualize the entire scene, even if they did not know the symbolism behind the poem.
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October 2014
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