New Hampshire · Chapter
Plowmen explained
A brief, ironic poem about plowing snow, suggesting the futility of cultivating barren rock.
What happens
A brief, ironic poem about plowing snow, suggesting the futility of cultivating barren rock.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional peak occurs when the speaker, overwhelmed by the "fated night" and the "hissing" snow, nearly su…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Work and Labor
The act of plowing, typically associated with farming, is applied to snow, highlighting the absurdity and futility of labor in a harsh environment.
- Nature and Transience
Snow and rock represent the transient and unyielding aspects of nature, mocking human attempts to cultivate or control it.
Key passages
“A plow, they say, to plow the snow. They cannot mean to plant it, though— Unless in bitterness to mock At having cultivated rock.”
People speak of using a plow to clear snow, but surely they don't intend to plant crops in it—unless they are bitterly mocking the fact that they have been trying to farm on rocky, barren land.
The poem uses the image of plowing snow to comment on the impossibility and irony of farming in a rocky, northern landscape.
