Snow
By Louis MacNeice
The room was suddenly rich and the great bay-window was
Spawning snow and pink roses against it
Soundlessly collateral and incompatible:
World is suddener than we fancy it.World is crazier and more of it than we think,
Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion
A tangerine and spit the pips and feel
The drunkenness of things being various.And the fire flames with a bubbling sound for world
Is more spiteful and gay than one supposes—
On the tongue on the eyes on the ears in the palms of one’s hands—
There is more than glass between the snow and the huge roses.
Summary of Snow
- Popularity of “Snow”: The poem ‘Snow’ was written by Louis MacNeice, an Irish playwright and poet. This poem is an interesting piece about a transformation in the physical world. It first appeared in his collection, The Collected Poems of Louis MacNeice, in 1967 that was published by Oxford. The poem shows the poetic reaction to snowfall and its suddenness. The luxuriousness of the moment captured in these verses is what sets the poem apart.
- “Snow” As a Representative of Snowing: Snow is used by the poet to represent snowing and the poem opens with the observation that the room becomes luxurious during a snowfall, with the pink roses outside presenting a beautiful sight. It all happens without any sound and compatibility. There is nothing compatible with what is going on and how the weather proves unpredictable. But then things happen in this way as the world, he says, is crazier. The poet is involved in peeling his tangerine and thinking about the plurality of the world outside of him. He seems to feel “the drunkenness of the things” against the fire burning inside the home. It seems to him the world is spiteful too, despite his realization that it is otherwise. He relishes the interior while the tongues, eyes, and ears experience the bitterness on the exterior. Therefore, only luxury does not exist; there are many things between the glass and the snow and the roses outside his house.
- Major Themes in “Snow”: Enjoyment of the moment, the realization of the suddenness, and snowfall are three major themes of this poem. The poem captures the beauty of snowfall and enjoying the warm fire in the drawing-room. However, it occurs to him that it is not compatible with the present moment and that it is all collateral with no warning. This seems to him crazy, but this suddenness, too, has its luxury that it has made him think about the enjoyment of things. As he warms himself by the fire, he reflects on the snowfall and the unfathomable aspects of the world.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used In Snow
Literary devices capture the interest of the readers through beauty and enchantment. Louis MacNeice also used some literary devices in this poem whose analysis is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /uh/ and /a/ in “The room was suddenly rich and the great bay-window was” the sound of /i/ in “World is crazier and more of it than we think” and the sound of /i/ in “The drunkenness of things being various”.
- Alliteration: The poem shows the use of alliteration in the shape of initial consonant sounds of the neighboring words, such as the sound of /s/ in “spawning snow” and the sound of /f/ in “fire flames”.
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /d/ and /n/ in “World is suddener than we fancy it” and the sound of /ng/ and /s/ in “The drunkenness of things being various”.
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example,
Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion
A tangerine and spit the pips and feel
The drunkenness of things being various.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses.For example, “Spawning snow and pink roses against it”, “A gangerine and spit the pips and feel” and “There is more than glass between the snow and the huge roses.”
- Personification: The poem shows the use of personifications such as drunkenness that the poem has shown as having life and emotions of its own. The poet also personified the world, saying “World is suddener” and “World is crazier.”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of symbols such as snow, roses, and human organs to point out life and its unpredictability like that of the weather.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Snow
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: The poem shows the use of standard poetic diction having a serious tone.
- Free Verse: The poem is a free verse poem, as it does not follow any rhyming or metrical pattern.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. The poem has three stanzas with each having four verses.
- Repetition: The poet has beautifully used repetitions to emphasize his thematic strand such as “World…” and “on the…”
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “Snow” are appropriate to quote about the unpredictability of situations.
World is crazier and more of it than we think,
Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion
A tangerine and spit the pips and feel
The drunkenness of things being various.