Comment 13 of 14, added on April 6th, 2007 at 6:33 PM.

In the poem Apparently with no surprise, Emily Dickinson writes on nature’s cycle of death and it’s indifference to it. Each of the three objects in the poem are personified and attached to words with specific connotations. These objects and their meanings contribute to the poem’s theme. The poem also employs several other literary devices with hidden symbolic meanings.
The flower in Dickinson’s poem is “happy” (line 2) and “at its play” (line3). With this choice of words, the flower becomes the embodiment of childish innocence. The flower is made even more human-like when Dickinson has it “beheaded” (line 3), which symbolizes the death of the flower. Choosing to capitalize the word flower in the poem also gives the object a name, further personifying it.
The second object identified in the poem is frost. Frost is also capitalized, giving the force a name, making it seem human. The frost is responsible for the death of the flower, as the frost “beheads” (line 3) it with “accidental power” (line 4). The word “beheads” (line3) implies a sense of vicious malevolence, while the words “accidental power” (line 4) contrast the previous connotation with an idea of the unconsciousness with which this action is pursued.
The last personified object in the poem is the sun. The sun is referred to as a “blonde Assassin” (line 5). The word “blonde” (line5) is used to reflect the color yellow, while both “blonde” (line 5) and “Assassin” (line 5) makes the object lifelike. The word “Assassin” (line 5) has a negative connotation suggestive of cruelty and violence. The sun is “unmoved” (line 6), making it indifferent to killing the human-like frost. This vicious act is contrasted and rectified by an “Approving God” (line 8), which signifies the sun was simply doing what it was created to do. The sun was serving its purpose, just as the frost did that for which it was created.
Dickinson chooses with this poem to write only eight lines. She chooses to do so because eight is the symbol for infinity, which is the “the endless knot or mystic diagram [that] symbolizes the endless cycle of rebirth”(Khandro.net). It is suggestive of the circular and never ending cycle of nature. With each ending comes a new beginning, and with each death comes a life. This is in direct correlation with the central idea of the poem.
The poem is also very transcendentalist in nature. It embodies transcendentalism ideals. Transcendentalism teaches that everything and everyone is connected. This idea resonates with her ideas of cyclic mindless murder in nature that is in place simply to “measure off another day” (line 7). The idea of another day symbolizes a new beginning, despite the losses of that day, namely, the frost ‘beheading’ (line 3) the flower and in turn the “blonde Assassin”(line 5) slaying the frost.
In conclusion, the symbolism and connotation attached to each object, the ideals, and other literary devices embedded in the poem relate back to the theme of the work. Everything in creation serves a purpose, and nothing is to blame for death in nature. Death occurs in cycles as God intended.


Mario Andretti from United States