"Bloom -- is Result -- to meet a Flower"

By Emily Dickinson
[Analysis]
Bloom -- is Result -- to meet a Flower [1]
And casually glance [2]
Would scarcely cause one to suspect [3]
The minor Circumstance [4]
Assisting in the Bright Affair [5]
So intricately done [6]
Then offered as a Butterfly [7]
To the Meridian -- [8]
To pack the Bud -- oppose the Worm -- [9]
Obtain its right of Dew -- [10]
Adjust the Heat -- elude the Wind -- [11]
Escape the prowling Bee [12]
Great Nature not to disappoint [13]
Awaiting Her that Day -- [14]
To be a Flower, is profound [15]
Responsibility -- [16]
Poem 1058 [F1038]
"Bloom -- is Result -- to meet a Flower"
Analysis by David Preest
[Poem]
On a literal level this poem offers an unusual way of looking at a flower. Our usual, casual glance at 'the Bright Affair' that is a flower
takes it to be as ephemeral as a butterfly at its noonday 'Meridian,' but this is to overlook the fact that a flower's 'Bloom -- is [the] Result' of
the many small 'Circumstances' described in stanza 3, all of which are necessary if the flower is to fulfil her 'Responsibility' as a flower and
not disappoint 'Great Nature.'
But on a symbolic level, as Judith Farr (G) observes, Emily may be suggesting that any 'Bright Affair' such as an artistic achievement or a
human relationship will have a history of hard endeavour behind it, which we may miss as we look at the finished product.
Structurally the poem is made up of two short sentences, 'Bloom -- is Result' (line 1) and 'To be a Flower, is profound/Responsibility'
(lines 15-16), which frame the long sentence which is the rest of the poem.
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