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the blonde assassin is the frost-

in this instance emily is playing with the word blonde. (fair skinned/haired) You know the frost killed the flower, emily tells you so / "the frost beheads it at its play" / ie. the assassin - blonde is a descriptive word personifying death - the juxtaposition between a happy flower and it's murderer, being ordained "for an approving god"

Apparently with no surprise
To any happy Flower
The Frost beheads it at its play—
In accidental power—
The blonde Assassin passes on—
The Sun proceeds unmoved
To measure off another Day
For an Approving God.
ok come on lets think about this ...its comparing the flower to children playing and then it goes to state the frost beheads it at its play by accidental power.. the BLONDE assassin passes on- it is talkin about the sun bc it goes on to state the sun proceeds unmoved ...well look at that sentence it totally contradicts itself bc proceed mean to go forward but yet emily is saying it is unmoved...... we talked about this the other day in class... but w/e everyone has their own interpretation

Apparently with no surprise
To any happy Flower
The Frost beheads it at its play—
In accidental power—
The blonde Assassin passes on—
The Sun proceeds unmoved
To measure off another Day
For an Approving God.

The Frost has a power that it doesn't realize (accidental) which is the ability to stop a flowers' growth (behead) and although it's not surprising to the flower that this has happened it has still grown and is happy nonetheless. The blonde assassin is the frost. The blonde refers to the fairness of the snow (paleness- white). It has done what it has supposed to do and Emily implies that this is to attempt to impress the sun with its talents but in not impressing it continues on it's path. The sun as well continues on doing it's duty which is to please God by keeping track of the days. God can also be percieved as being approving (happy) in the fact that the flower has been beheaded but Emily has left this to ambiguity and ones' own choice of reason. This is my opinion on the poem... feel free to formulate your own...

According to my Literature AP book "The Anthology of American POETRY: Colonial to Contemporary" by Hilary Russell, blonde means white in this poem, not yellow.

"blonde" has to mean light or white. the assassin must be referring to the frost because otherwise, "The blonde Assassin passes on" and "The Sun proceeds unmoved" will be an uncessary repeat in meaning.

ACTUALLY! The blond assassin is the frost. The real definition of blond is WHITE. The sun does NOT kill the flower, the FROST does, therefore it is the assassin. It makes more sense this way anyway. WHy would the SUN be an ASSASSIN when it is necessary for the life of the flower?
So, to recap:

BLOND ASSASSIN = FROST

I believe that in bickering back and forth over the meaning of the word "blonde", you're all losing sight of the meaning. It is--apparently--about the loss of innocence. Apply all the devices accordingly. It adds up.

Regardless of what the Assasin is, this poem is talking about the power of nature. The world was created so many years ago, and for all those years nature continues with no surprises. God set the rules of nature, and they remain like that forever. The sun, flower, and frost are not surprised-nature is just running its course. And God watches His world run according to the rules He had set out.

The frost is the assasin as the poem states the assasin moves on. The sun is unmoved therefore it is not the assasin is it.

the blonde assasin is the frost! get it? got it? good. frost kills the flower. thats y its called beheading