Emily Dickinson

As Frost Is Best Conceived

poem 951

As Frost Is Best Conceived - meaning Summary

Affliction Inferred by Result

The poem argues that damage reveals prior harm: just as frost is known by the results it leaves on plants, human affliction is inferred from enduring changes. Dickinson imagines a garden that, after the sun returns, still bears a gash and a wilted face. If the crease and stain remain, we conclude that vital force has been broken. The speaker treats visible, persistent effects as proof of an earlier rupture in life or health, and emphasizes inference from aftermath rather than direct observation of the original trauma.

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As Frost is best conceived By force of its Result Affliction is inferred By subsequent effect If when the sun reveal, The Garden keep the Gash If as the Days resume The wilted countenance Cannot correct the crease Or counteract the stain Presumption is Vitality Was somewhere put in twain.

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