Looking at an old friend, the speaker notices a scattering of white in her hair — like a little snow. They have known each other since childhood, playing together, and now decade has piled on decade. The snow is a quiet, almost delicate sign of all those years. Then the poem shifts from this gentle image of aging to something more stubborn and hopeful. Time has added age, but it hasn’t managed to capture the rose. That “Impregnable” rose stands for something essential and alive in her, a summer quality too indelible and too obdurate for any winter to erase. The speaker’s feeling is tender and wistful, yet the final note is one of quiet defiance. Outward changes can’t touch the vivid, blooming core that resists all snows.
A little Snow was here and there — Summary
A little Snow was here and there Disseminated in her Hair -- Since she and I had met and played Decade had gathered to Decade --
But Time had added not obtained Impregnable the Rose For summer too indelible Too obdurate for Snows --