Dust of Snow
by Robert Frost
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
I sometimes use this poem in my haiku workshops to show the difference between objectivity (first part) and subjectivity (second part). Another way to put this is that first stanza shows, while the second stanza tells. Haiku tend to aim more towards the first part of this poem (minus “The way”), and seek to trust the image to show rather than tell. Telling can sometimes be good in other poems, though.