2. Shook down on me
2. The dust of snow
Since the crow is not associated with goodness, it is ironic that in this poem, it is doing a good deed by shaking off the snow.
3. From a hemlock tree
Robert Frost didn’t choose to use an oak, maple or pine tree. No, instead he chose the hemlock tree which is usually associated with poison and toxicity. Maybe you’ve heard it called by the names of Poison Hemlock or Poison Parsley. Anyway, the beautiful snow that adorns the poisonous hemlock tree’s branches is shaken off by a scary crow.
4. Has given my heart
4. A change of mood
Robert Frost uses the elements of the fearsome crow and poisonous Hemlock tree to do something good – shake the white, pure snow off the branches. This good act lifts the suicidal person’s spirits causing him to change his mind about killing himself. The small act causes the man to have an enlightened insight.
5. And saved some part
5.Of a day I had rued.
Rued, according to the dictionary, means: “To feel regret, repentance, pity, remorse, or sorrow for.” However, Rue is also a plant that is cultivated for its use medicinally. There is a bit of irony here that Robert Frost refers to the poisonous Hemlock and the medicinal Rue.
So we have a poisonous Hemlock tree covered in pure, white snow and a man who is depressed, planning to kill himself and walking under the tree. At that precise moment, the black crow of death shakes the pure, good snow onto the man. All that goodness helps the man to change his mind about killing himself. Instead, he decides to live, forget the regret and sorrow to enable healing.