January 27, 2011 – “The Snow Man” – Wallace Stevens

Text:

“The Snow Man” by Wallace Stevens

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Initial Impression:

When I first read “The Snow Man,” I thought that the poem was mainly a scenery poem in which a miserable winter scene is described and the narrator says that one needs to have a certain taste in order to enjoy the weather. Also, it seems like the narrator is trying to write that mankind does not belong in the harsh winter of nature.

Paraphrase:

Someone who lives in winter should have winter-like qualities. The cold is part of winter. The January sun is far away. In order to not be depressed by the stillness of winter, one must be like nature. The only sound heard is that of the land, full of wind blowing through the barren snow-covered land. He who listens in the snow is nothing.

SWIFTT:

Wallace Stevens uses syntax, diction, imagery, figurative language, tone, and theme in the poem, “The Snow Man.”

Syntax/Word choice:

Steven’s poem is one run-on sentence with five stanzas of three lines each. There are only two semicolons and one period. There is no rhyme scheme in “The Snow Man.” All diction describes the harsh nature of winter.

Imagery:

“The Snow Man” is filled with winter and landscaping visual imagery. There is snow, ice, and frost everywhere: “the frost and the boughs / Of the pine-trees crusted with snow.” There are three different types of trees in the poem, juniper, spruce, and pine. All of these trees are covered in a blanket of snow or “shagged with ice.” There is also auditory imagery, the sound of wind gusting and the “sound of the land” all demonstrating the bitter and relentless cold of winter.

Figurative language:

There is no usage of simile in “The Snow Man.” Throughout Stevens’ poem, there is one major metaphor: a comparison between a snowman, snow, and man. Man is warm and intellectual, while snow is cold and something that man cannot change or control. The paradox in this is that a snowman is winter embodied; it is unemotional and sees only actuality. The only way a person could avoid thinking of misery in a desolate nature is to be like the snowman; to not show emotions and be nothing himself. Winter is given human characteristics through the personification of the snowman. The cold is bitter, miserable, and sterile, and a person who lives in the winter would have to be of a similar type.

Tone:

The tone of the narrator is detached. Winter is shown to be a force that man cannot reckon with, and the narrator does not seem to want to try to defy the balance that nature has created.

Theme:

The theme of “The Snow Man” is that in order for man to survive in the unrelenting winter of nature, he would have to become like the cold of winter: unemotional, see only actuality, able to see that the actuality implies nothing beyond. While nature is used to winter, man couldn’t survive and be in harmony with it.

Conclusion:

After analyzing the poem with the class, I have been able to comprehend Wallace Stevens’ “The Snow Man.” While I originally believed that the narrator was trying to say that winter was a season that few enjoyed, discluding himself, I now think that the narrator is trying to explain to his readers that the cold of winter will not adapt to mankind, mankind needs to adapt to winter. The only way a person can avoid depression in nature’s winter is to not show emotions and become nothing himself, like snow. Otherwise, being stuck in such conditions would not be a pleasant experience for man who is used to changing his surrounds to suit his wants and needs.