Mr. Yoon's 1st assignment

Do Hyun Lee

Professor Yoon Seung Gil

American Literature

29 February 2012

The Snow Man: After report

             ‘Cold, cold, cold and snow’ is a scene of snowy winter that people think of; eventually, we think a tree covered with the snow. They can’t see “the nothing” of the winter. Regardless of the time, we always thought a tree covered with the snow as a scene of the snowy winter. People also reformed the sound of wind to the sound of wind that is full of misery, the wind that was “the nothing,” changed to “something.” WHY? It is because human kinds create “something” they want to, “something” that is fixed. This fixed thought, a prejudice, is hard to change. This poem is made to criticize human kinds’ behaviors, which are limited by the prejudices. People can’t see the nature as it is. People should work hard to hear or listen to the wind as it is, not to think of any misery in the sound of the wind.  

Another basic problem for human kinds is that people aren’t interested in the nature itself. Pine trees, junipers and spruces have a similar feature: ever-green tree; but, they are undoubtedly different kinds of trees. However, people aren’t interested in each of them. Because of this disinterest, people can’t see “the nothingness,” but they only see “nothing.” 

These two obstacles block people from watching “the nothingness.” Then, how can people overcome these two problems? An answer for this question is “we can’t.” We can’t never ever abandon our prejudices; regardless of the time we spent to erase them. A speaker failed to behold the junipers shagged with ice, the spruces rough in the glitter; although, he spent much time during the winter. But, there is an alternative: imagination. For accurate imagination we should be a good listener, not the people who behold the winter. We have to listen and imagine the scene of winter. Because people don’t exist at that place, people can imagine the place as it is. This means that people can see “the nothing” in that place. This means that people can be snowmen, the snowmen which form harmony with the nature itself.

“The mind of winter” is the mind that snowman only can have. This mind can be only held by the imagination.

Parallelism and repetition are used in this poem. First and the second stanza are parallel; for example, “to regard” and “to behold” are parallel, and “junipers shagged with ice” and “the pine-trees crusted with snow” are parallel too. And the term “snow” and “winter” is repeatedly used in this poem. By these rhyme schemes, readers could feel that this poem is interlocked with each stanza. The interlocking feeling hints the readers that each stanza is connected and inferring other meanings.

Also, much imagery is used in the poem. I believe that the poet used imagery to emphasize the importance of imagining, not beholding. “Of the pine-trees crusted with snow” and “To behold the junipers shagged with ice” are examples for the imagery.

There are also a phrase and word that involves emotion; for example, “Of any misery in the sound of the wind” and “to regard.” These show that human kinds are using their brains to make “nothing” to “something” by emotionally empathizing.