Dust of Snow

The relationship between Frost’s life and the poem’s details makes it possible to identify the potential inspiration for “Dust of Snow,” or at minimum, the connection Frost shares with the poem’s contents. The poem features “a hemlock tree” (Line 4), and these trees are common in New Hampshire, where Frost lived and owned a farm. The poem appears in a collection named after Frost’s home state, furthering the biographical connection between Frost and the speaker. The speaker has an intimate connection with nature, as the crow, snow, and tree help the speaker feel better, and Frost, choosing to live on a farm, has a particular bond with the outdoors and its elements.

In a biographical portrait of Frost’s life and career, “The Terror in Robert Frost,” the 20th-century American poet William Stafford states, “[Frost’s] image and his poems found their way everywhere—while shadows tugged at his career” (Stafford, William. “The Terror in Robert Frost.” The New York Times, 1974). The shadows refer to Frost’s battle with depression. He was known to be volatile and unstable. In Stafford’s article, one of Frost’s daughters, Lesley, remembers waking up at night and witnessing Frost threaten to use a gun on himself or Elinor, his wife. The shadows also link to Frost’s family. Frost’s son, Carol, died by suicide, and one of his daughters, Irma, spent time at a psychiatric hospital. Additionally, Frost’s sister, Jeanie, was at a psychiatric hospital for around nine years, and Elinor battled mental health conditions.

In “Dust of Snow,” Frost arguably alludes to his and his family’s “shadows” with the final word “rued” (Line 8). Like the speaker, Frost experienced stark emotions. In the poem and Frost’s life, disquiet is an inevitable, and the speaker and Frost can’t defeat it, but with help from nature, they can try and manage the intense feelings and keep “some part / Of a day” (Lines 7-8) from despair.