Dust of Snow

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. For me this poem would carry the same value as the second stanza if it said, in haiku terms, something like “from a hemlock tree / a crow shakes down / the dust of snow.” In this way the words trust the image to suggest a positive change of mood without imposing that idea. That being said, this is one of my favourite Frost poems as it is.