"A Hard Frost" is a poem by Anglo-Irish poet Cecil Day Lewis that muses on nature's deceptive power. The poem's speaker wakes to find the world outside transformed by the "hard frost" of the title, which makes it look as though spring has arrived. Overnight, the frost has left lily-like patterns against the window glass, decked the trees in blooms of "crystal," and set the fields "blaz[ing]" with ice that glitters in the sunlight. The speaker understands that this is only a "Mockery spring," however: an illusion conjured by the frost that will melt away to reveal that winter still grips the landscape. At the same time, the speaker says that there's a "real transformation" taking place out of sight, as the frost's freezing and thawing process loosens the stiff soil below the earth's surface so that seeds can grow. The poem thus marvels at nature's ability to transform the world, the differences between appearances and reality, and the cyclical connection between death and new life.

• Read the full text of “A Hard Frost”

• “A Hard Frost” Summary

• “A Hard Frost” Themes

  • 

    Appearances vs. Reality

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-19
  • 

    The Power of Nature

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2
    • Lines 4-10
    • Lines 17-19
  • 

    The Cycle of Life

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 14-19

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Hard Frost”

  • Lines 1-3

    A frost came ...
    ... to be true:

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-5

    White lilac on ...
    ... loading the hedge.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-9

    The elms behind ...
    ... whence creation formed.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-14

        The sun looks ...
    ... aconite and snowdrop!

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 14-16

    No, not here ...
    ... scene in progress

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-19

    But deep below ...
    ... our future breathe.

    

    

    

    

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• “A Hard Frost” Symbols

  • 

    The Mist

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-9: “the mist / That hangs yet in the valley below, amorphous / As the blind tissue whence creation formed.”
  • 

    The Seed

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 17-19: “deep below where frost / Worrying the stiff clods unclenches their / Grip on the seed and lets our future breathe.”

• “A Hard Frost” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “too brilliant to be true”
    • Line 4: “White lilac,” “window-pane”
    • Lines 4-5: “grass-blade / Furred like”
    • Line 5: “catkin, maydrift loading,” “hedge”
    • Line 7: “But blossomers,” “crystal, stems,” “mist”
    • Line 8: “amorphous”
    • Line 9: “blind tissue whence creation”
    • Line 12: “For,” “few,” “raw country”
    • Line 13: “disconsolate,” “old”
    • Line 14: “aconite,” “snowdrop,” “No, not”
    • Line 15: “this flounce,” “filigree”
    • Line 17: “frost”
    • Line 18: “stiff clods unclenches”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “precocious / Image”
    • Lines 4-5: “grass-blade / Furred”
    • Lines 6-7: “longer / But”
    • Lines 7-8: “mist / That”
    • Lines 8-9: “amorphous / As”
    • Lines 11-12: “gear / For”
    • Lines 14-15: “here / Amid”
    • Lines 15-16: “death / Is”
    • Lines 16-17: “progress / But”
    • Lines 17-18: “frost / Worrying”
    • Lines 18-19: “their / Grip”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2
    • Line 4
    • Line 5
    • Lines 6-8
    • Line 10
    • Lines 11-14
    • Line 15
    • Lines 17-19

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “A frost came in the night and stole my world / And left this changeling for it”
    • Lines 2-3: “a precocious / Image of spring”
    • Line 10: “The sun looks out”
    • Lines 11-14: “Mockery spring, to lend this bridal gear / For a few hours to a raw country maid, / Then leave her all disconsolate with old fairings / Of aconite and snowdrop!”
    • Lines 17-19: “deep below where frost / Worrying the stiff clods unclenches their / Grip on the seed and lets our future breathe.”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5: “each grass-blade / Furred like a catkin”
    • Lines 7-9: “the mist / That hangs yet in the valley below, amorphous / As the blind tissue whence creation formed”

• “A Hard Frost” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Changeling
  • Precocious
  • Catkin
  • Maydrift
  • Elms
  • Blossomers in crystal
  • Yet
  • Amorphous
  • Blind tissue
  • Whence
  • Raw
  • Mockery
  • Bridal gear
  • Aconite and snowdrop
  • Fairings
  • Disconsolate
  • Flounce and filigree
  • Unclenches
  • Clods
  • (Location in poem: Lines 1-2: “A frost came in the night and stole my world / And left this changeling for it”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Hard Frost”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “A Hard Frost” Speaker

• “A Hard Frost” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “A Hard Frost”

• More “A Hard Frost” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Frost — Learn more about the kind of frost that this poem describes. This entry also includes images of blades of grass "Furred" with frost, flower-like frost patterns on a window, and crystalline frost flowers forming on a tree st

    • Further Poems and Biography — Dive into an in-depth account of Day Lewis's life and a selection of his work.

    • The Forgotten Poet — Read about Day Lewis's changing poetic reputation. 

    • Day Lewis's Style and Context — Check out an interview with poet and educator Bernard O' Donoghue, in which he discusses Day Lewis's place in English poetry (and some of the poems themselves).

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Cecil Day-Lewis

    • Walking Away

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