Lines 3-4
The Frost beheads it at its play—
In accidental power—
Whoa, didn't see that one coming.
So the "happy Flower" is not surprised about getting beheaded by the "Frost." We guess that makes sense; winter comes and kills the flowers every year, so it's probably not much of a surprise.
Emily is all about nature imagery so it's also no surprise to see it here. And again, in these lines, she personifies something out of nature. The Frost beheads the flower, right? That simultaneously personifies the Frost and the Flower.
The Frost is doing the very human action of beheading somebody else, and the Flower seems human because it has a head to lop off.
We notice that the word Frost is kicking it with a capital F, which again makes us wonder what it might symbolize. Well, it's doing a whole lot killing, so could it be Death itself?
Dun dun dun…
It's likely.
On that note, could the Flower then represent human life? Or all life? The poem doesn't tell us for sure. What do you think, Shmoopers?
One more question before we go: why is the Frost's power described as "accidental"? Could it be that the speaker is commenting on how Frost doesn't purposely kill anything?
It just does it because that's what it does. If that's the case, then it makes us think a little more about the poem's stance on Death. Is the speaker angry at Death, or is she recognizing that it's just a fact of life? (Maybe a bit of both?)