The final lines of the first stanza are very short and concise. They are almost brutal in their finality and in the way that they suggest the inescapability of death through their analogy to winter. The direct simplicity of these lines and the way that they are positioned after the other longer lines, adds weight to the meaning of the poem and we feel the sense of loss and grief. Note as well the use of alliteration in the second last line of the stanza: "Silent, and soft, and slow."
This also adds to the sense of inevitability and the finality of death.
The use of alliteration, combined with the shorter and longer lines in the stanza is an example of the way that the pace of the poem is altered and manipulated to suggest and support the central meaning of the poem.
The second stanza seems to suggest that the protagonist is looking for answers or is in denial at the death of someone that he has loved. There is also the suggestion of a feeling of guilt in the word" Confession." These feelings are aided by the repetition of first words in the lines. The repetition of the word, "Even" has an auditory quality, which suggest a sense of possibly. But the possibly that death can be stopped or in way prevented is denied in the conclusive and final tone of the last two lines of the stanza.
The troubled sky reveals
The grief it feels.
As in the first stanza, the last lines of stanza two are short and curt, which conveys the impression again that death is final. The fact that the last two lines rhyme helps to enforce this...
In this stanza however the intention and message are slightly different. Here the protagonist in the poem faces the reality and inevitability of death. In this stanza the poet accepts the death that has occurred. The secret reality of death is revealed as part of the natural cycle of life. This reality is expressed through nature.
Now whispered and revealed
To wood and field.
The repetition of the word "This" adds to the finality of the poem's ending and to an understanding that the nature of death can now be accepted. Note as well that, as in the previous stanzas, the poet repeats words at the start of the lines to emphasize their importance. The rhyming of the words in the last two lines also relates to the revelation of the meaning of death. It is also important to note that the poet uses words very economically and the final words:"...wood and field" are intended to symbolize all of nature.
Throughout this poem the central meaning and intention of the poet is conveyed and assisted by the use of various techniques and formal poetic devices. The most obvious of these is use of structural elements to divide the poem into three areas of related interest, which combine to make up the central theme of the work. As has been discussed in this paper, the structure of the poem is not arbitrary but is deliberate and intended to enhance the message and the meaning of the poem.
FORMAL QUALITIES in "SNOW-FLAKES"
