"The Snow Man" by Wallace Stevens

"The Snow Man" by Wallace Stevens is a poem which creates a unique image of the snow man and winter through an effective imagery, and which makes the reader to use another way of thinking in order to both understand the poem and realize its theme. The first thing that is noticeable about the poem is that it is actually just one long, complex sentence. There is no rhyme, and there is no particular meter. …

…as the "nothing" becomes "something" "that is," and brings to mind the phrase, "presence of an absence." But the combination of these justifies the use of the word "behold," it is truly majestic to "see" both what is there and what is not there. And so finally, this last line gives a satisfying conclusion to the poem for all "one" has to go through, for giving up one's self, for "[having] a mind of winter."