A Hard Frost - CD Lewis
Summary
The poem is about the appearance of hard frost that has formed overnight.
The imagery captures the changed appearance of the world caused by this layer of frost.
The speaker refers to the ‘real transformation’ of spring occurring underground, beneath
the surface.
The poem is structured into two stanzas – the first describes the scene and the second
reveals the speaker’s views about this description.
The Title
hard – suggests that the frost was cold-hearted, merciless.
Stanza 1
Line 1
A frost came in the night and stole my world
Frost- symbolises the arrival of winter.
came in the night – change happened suddenly
stole my world – Tone – accusatory. He accuses the frost of theft as it has stolen the
expected scene and replaced it with a fake. The frost is given magical, mystical powers in
its ability to accomplish this transformation. He has been robbed of something that he
cherished, something that was valuable (my world).
my world – emphasises that he was having difficulty adjusting to the change.
Lines 2-3
And left this changeling for it - a precocious
Image of spring, too brilliant to be true:
He comments on how the world’s appearance has been radically altered by the layer of
frost, and in such a way that suddenly the surroundings seem almost spring-like. The
glittering and sparkling of the reflected frost creates a bright image but, as the speaker
admits, this is ‘too brilliant to be true’ (line 3).
changeling – something secretly exchanged for something else. Tone – dissatisfaction.
precocious – developed pre-maturely
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Summary
The poem is about the appearance of hard frost that has formed overnight.
The imagery captures the changed appearance of the world caused by this layer of frost.
The speaker refers to the ‘real transformation’ of spring occurring underground, beneath
the surface.
The poem is structured into two stanzas – the first describes the scene and the second
reveals the speaker’s views about this description.
The Title
hard – suggests that the frost was cold-hearted, merciless.
Stanza 1
Line 1
A frost came in the night and stole my world
Frost- symbolises the arrival of winter.
came in the night – change happened suddenly
stole my world – Tone – accusatory. He accuses the frost of theft as it has stolen the
expected scene and replaced it with a fake. The frost is given magical, mystical powers in
its ability to accomplish this transformation. He has been robbed of something that he
cherished, something that was valuable (my world).
my world – emphasises that he was having difficulty adjusting to the change.
Lines 2-3
And left this changeling for it - a precocious
Image of spring, too brilliant to be true:
He comments on how the world’s appearance has been radically altered by the layer of
frost, and in such a way that suddenly the surroundings seem almost spring-like. The
glittering and sparkling of the reflected frost creates a bright image but, as the speaker
admits, this is ‘too brilliant to be true’ (line 3).
changeling – something secretly exchanged for something else. Tone – dissatisfaction.
precocious – developed pre-maturely
Page 1 of 4
