Dust of Snow important Questions and Answers
Very Short Answer Questions
1. Where was the crow sitting
Answer: The crow was sitting in a hemlock tree.
2. What did the crow shakedown on the poet?
Answer: He shook down snow on the poet.
3. In what mood was the poet before falling of snow on him
Answer: He was in an unpleasant mood.
4. What type of plant is ‘a hemlock tree’?
Answer: It is a poisonous plant with small white flowers.
5. What fell on the poet from the hemlock tree?
Answer: Sonic dust of snow fell on the poet from the hemlock tree.
6. How did the dust of snow affect the poet?
Answer: It changed the poet’s mood.
7. Who is the poet of the poem ‘Dust of Snow’?
Answer: The poet of this poem is ‘Robert Frost’.
8. What did the poet think of the day before the fall of the dust of snow on him?
Answer: The poet thought unhappiness of the day before the fall of the dust of snow on him. But after the incident, he started to look at the surroundings.
9. What is the dust of snow?
Answer: The dust of snow is snowflakes or small and soft particles of snow that settles down on the various objects on the earth during the snowfall.
10. What is a hemlock tree?
Answer: A hemlock tree is a poisonous tree with white flowers. It stands for sorrow. The dust of snow had covered this tree.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. How has the poet observed nature in the poem ‘Dust of Snow’
Answer: The poet has observed nature as a positive medium of change for him. The poet had been the sorrowful and depressive mood in the poem. But then the way a crow shook snow dust off, it changed his mood. Nature gave him the inspiration to behave in a positive manner.
2. What is the underlying message for us in our hectic life with reference to the poem, ‘Dust of Snow’?
Or
What is the central idea of the poem ‘Dust of Snow’?
Or
What does the poet want to convey through the poem ‘Dust of Snow’?
Answer: In the poem ‘Dust of Snow’, the poet wants to convey that sometimes certain moments or actions which are simple have larger significance. They can change the mood or life of a person. The way a crow shakes down dust of snow on the poet inspires and gives him the idea to shake off his depressive thoughts, become cheerful and do something useful.
3. What side of nature do ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent?
Answer: ‘Crow’ is a black, harsh-voiced bird and ‘hemlock’ is a tree with poisonous bitter fruit. Both are not beautiful. They represent the dark, depressive, sorrowful and bitter side of nature.
4.Why does the poet use such poetically uncommon bird and tree? What does it reflect?
Answer: The poet seems to be in a depressed and sorrowful mood. In such a mood, one cannot think of a sweet and beautiful side of nature. The harsh, bitter and poisonous images come to his mind. That is why he uses an uncommon, harsh, ugly crow and poisonous tree like hemlock.
5. Justify the role of the crow in the poem “Dust of Snow” in changing the poet’s mood.
Answer: I think, ‘the way snow dust was shaken off’ changed his mood. Perhaps it gave the poet inspiration/idea to behave in the same manner—shake off his depressive thoughts and revive his cheerful mood.
6. What mood of the poet is reflected in the poem? How does it reflect?
Answer: The sorrowful and depressive mood of the poet is reflected in the poem. The use of the bird ‘crow’, which is ugly and harsh, and hemlock tree, which is a poisonous plant, reflects the poet’s mood.
7. What did the poet think of the day before the dust of snow fell on him?
Answer: Before the fall of the dust of snow, the poet thought that his day was ruined. He was in a bad mood. But then use of snow fell on him. It signalled something good and joyful. His mood changed.
8. Write a note on the setting of the poem.
Answer: The poem presents a perfect setting. There are four elements in the poem. All these four elements match one another. The snow stands for depression. The hemlock tree is a symbol of sadness. The crow considered ominous. The poet’s mood was also sad. But suddenly the way in which the crow shook the hemlock tree and falling off the dust of snow. change the poet’s mood.
9. Where was the poet and what happened to him?
Answer: there was snow everywhere. The poet was under a hemlock tree. The tree was covered with snow Suddenly a crow shook the tree The dust of snow fell on the poet. It changed his mood.
10. The flow was the poet’s mood? What brought a sudden change in it?
Answer: The poet was in a bad mood. He considered that his day was ruined. But the crow shook the tree. The dust of snow fell on him. His mood changed. The rest of the day was saved for him.
11. How did the poet feel before the ‘change of mood’? Why did he feel so?
Answer: The poet was in a very depressed and hopeless mood. The day offered no relief, comfort or happiness for the poet. He felt that the whole day had been wasted for nothing. Perhaps his dull and depressive mood led him to such a conclusion.
12. Do you think that the poet presents a very bright or cheerful side of nature in the poem? Give a reasoned answer.
Answer: No, Robert Frost has presented nature in it’s elemental and raw form. It is quite dull and depressive wintry day. The fall of fine dust of snow does bring a sudden change in the mood of the poet. It refreshes his spirits and brings cheerfulness to his depressed spirits and mood.
13. Describe the scene of falling off the dust I snow. What impact does it have on the poet?
Answer: It is a dull and depressing day of the winter. Snow is falling. The fine dust of snow has accumulated on the top of the trees. Nature seems to be in its elemental and raw state. However, the full of fine dust of snow brings a sudden change in the mood of the poet. His depressive spirits are uplifted and his mood becomes cheerful.
14. ‘The Crow’ and the ‘hemlock tree’ are generally considered to be inauspicious and ominous symbols. Does the poet use them so?
Answer: ‘The Crow’ and ‘the hemlock tree’, no doubt, don’t represent cheerfulness or brightness. Both of them are generally considered to be inauspicious. But ‘the crow’ in the poem causes the dust of snowfall on the poet. This leads to the sudden change of mood in the poet. The feeling of cheerfulness replaces the feeling of regret. Similarly, the hemlock tree is the tree under which the poet is standing and experiencing the change of his mood.
15. Why does the poet say that he had `saved some part of a day I (he) had rued’?
Answer: The whole day had been rather gloomy, dull and hopeless. The poet had a feeling that the whole day would go waste. However, the falling of fine dust of snow on him suddenly changes his mood. It cheered his depressed spirits. He felt as if he had saved some part of the day.
16. What is the message that Robert Frost wants to convey to the readers in the poem ‘Dust of snow’?
Answer: Robert Frost gives quite a positive message to the readers. Depression and hopelessness do cloud our hearts, spirits and moods. However, there is a silver-lining beyond every cloud. The poet had given up all hopes and declared that the whole day would go waste. Suddenly, the falling of fine dust of snow on him brings a sudden change in his mood. Cheerfulness replaces the feeling of regret.
17. What happened when the dust of snow fell on Robert Frost?
Answer: Robert Frost was unhappy. He was deep down in his heart due to some personal reasons. When the dust of snow fell on him, his mental state had changed. Now he looked at the surroundings.
