In this article, we are going to take a look at the poem “Snow” by David Berman and analyze the literal and figurative meanings it conveys. “Snow” first appeared in Actual Air by David Berman in 1999 and was considered an instant classic. The poem was then published by Billy Collins published in his A Poem a Day for American High Schools.
Summary
“Snow” follows two brothers who are outside in winter. The two brothers are walking through a field and see snow angels. The younger brother asks who made the snow angels. The older brother tells him that it was a troop of angels who had been shot and dissolved. The younger brother continues to ask questions about who shot them and why. The older brother says a farmer shot them for trespassing. The narrator then finishes by saying the outdoors is like a room.
Analysis
The snow angels were actually where children who had been shot and killed by a farmer for trespassing (or by accident?). The older brother told the younger brother that they were angels because he believed they were truly innocent (never mind the fact that they were probably quite young).
When it’s snowing, the outdoors seem like a room.
Today I traded hellos with my neighbor.
Our voices hung close in the new acoustics.
A room with the walls blasted to shreds and falling.We returned to our shoveling, working side by side in silence.
This part of the poem is the most telling. Today he saw his neighbors but since the tragedy happened, the neighbors seem closer than usual (“Our voices hung close in the new acoustics”). The next line “A room with the walls blasted to shreds and falling.” would then refer to the previous world of innocence and how the tragedy has changed it. No one knows what else to talk about, so they just shovel alongside one another.
Keywords
- Troop of angels – may refer to boy scouts or simply young children he believed as innocents.
- Roof of the lake – top of the lake
- Photograph of water – frozen water
- Room – A safe place. A place of talking and joy.
Poem: “Snow” by David Berman
Walking through a field with my little brother Seth
I pointed to a place where kids had made angels in the snow.
For some reason, I told him that a troop of angels
had been shot and dissolved when they hit the ground.
He asked who had shot them and I said a farmer.
Then we were on the roof of the lake.
The ice looked like a photograph of water.
Why he asked. Why did he shoot them.
I didn’t know where I was going with this.
They were on his property, I said.
When it’s snowing, the outdoors seem like a room.
Today I traded hellos with my neighbor.
Our voices hung close in the new acoustics.
A room with the walls blasted to shreds and falling.
We returned to our shoveling, working side by side in silence.
But why were they on his property, he asked.
