Comment 68 of 69, added on April 6th, 2008 at 2:37 AM.

Even the title Dust of Snow tells us that it is a cold and deathly omen. The cleric at the grave says: "Remember man, that you are dust." and one throws dust or dirt on the coffin. The poet's propensity for interpreting things as bad omen's makes him think of the dust of snow as a reminder of death. The dark and perhaps scary way the iconic ill omen, the crow, shook the cold dust of snow down on the poet. It was not a heap of snow, just a dusting; enough to get one's attention, perhaps cause goosebumps. The hemlock tree is another dark symbol. It conjures up death by poison. Socrates. The great philosopher. So the piling up of dark symbol on darker symbol finally adds up to too much gloom. The poet was having a bad day to start with, and now, given as he is, to taking symbolism so to heart, he sees the humor of so much fretting. Perhaps he smiles at how overloaded the imagery is and his own fear. And that moment gives him an insight into how lugubrious he tends to be most of the time. The insight stays with him; whenever he thinks he is being inundated by dark symbols he thinks of that moment and it makes him smile, thus saving that part of an otherwise bad day.

BillSalem from United States