Where are the snows of yesteryear

“Where are the snows of yesteryear?” is a rhetorical question Clifford uses to frame the past as something that has disappeared. In speaking to Connie about her former lover in Germany, he invokes the phrase to argue that occasional connections pass away, while the long continuity of married life endures. The expression gives memorable form to his attempt to distinguish transient episodes from lasting companionship, though Connie listens with wonder and fear rather than settled conviction.

Meaning in Context

Clifford’s question is not a request for information about snow. It turns “yesteryear” into an image of what can no longer be recovered, supporting his claim that past connections become nearly nothing with time. He uses that reasoning to place Connie’s former lover among the experiences he considers temporary, in contrast to the marriage and shared habits he regards as lasting.

Rhetorical Function

The question condenses Clifford’s broader argument: occasional connections pass, but a life shared from day to day persists. Its pointed contrast makes his position sound less like a judgment about one former relationship and more like a general principle about time and attachment. The phrase helps him present endurance, rather than excitement, as the measure of what matters.

Connie’s Response

The question does not resolve Connie’s uncertainty. She wonders whether Clifford is right and thinks of her love as an excursion from the long intimacy of marriage; an excursion, in her reflection, implies a return home. The phrase therefore belongs to an argument she hears but does not simply accept: it voices Clifford’s confidence in continuity while leaving room for Connie’s sense that a temporary departure may still matter.