In this context, the noun “affair” refers to the activities or business, whether professional or personal, that people were engaged in before the accident. The speaker’s tone is neutral, rather than disapproving, in suggesting that the others are heartless or selfish; instead, they are portrayed as simply pragmatic and productive. Frost seems to suggest that tragedy is an inevitable part of life and that life must move on.

This line is an example of an asyndeton, a device in which coordinating conjunctions like “and,” “or,” or “but” are excluded from a line of verse. Here, the words “little,” “less,” and “nothing” are not connected by coordinating conjunctions; instead, they are separated by caesurae in the form of em dashes (—). The asyndeton, particularly in combination with the caesurae, creates a distinct disruption in the poem’s rhythm that seems to mimic the slowing of the boy’s heartbeat.

“Ether” is a type of highly flammable liquid anesthesia that was used during surgeries beginning in the 1840s. Ether can be vaporized into a gas that, while blocking pain, does not always result in loss of consciousness. Though the speaker suggests that ether causes the boy to become unconscious, it is possible that the darkness is actually death approaching.

Blood is both a symbolic and a literal representation of the life that the boy is about to lose; symbolic, in that it is not literal life that flows from his body, and literal, in that he may die from blood loss. Frost’s use of figurative language here indicates the futility of the boy’s efforts to save himself.

The adjective “rueful” refers to an expression of sorrow or regret, but it connotes wryness or humor. The speaker indicates that the boy’s laugh is perhaps one of shocked disbelief—for, despite the danger of the “man’s work” he has been made to do, he is still a child. Frost’s word choice invites readers to empathize with the boy as he processes what has taken place, therefore rendering his plight all the more upsetting.

Following the speaker’s anthropomorphizing the saw, he questions the saw’s agency. Now, the speaker imagines that the boy “must have given the hand.” By shifting responsibility for the tragedy from the saw back to the boy, and then refusing to state definitively where the blame lies, Frost perhaps suggests that it is unwise to cast blame, because accidents happen.

Line seventeen includes alliteration, or the repetition of consonant sounds. By repeating the soft consonant sound “h” in the words “he,” “have,” “hand,” and “however,” Frost varies the poem’s rhythm, which is further disrupted by the caesura (.) and the end-stop of the line, which concludes with a comma. Readers are thus encouraged to slow down and pay attention to the details of the scene.

Frost employs assonance, or the repetition of vowel sounds, in this line. The repetition of the “ee” sound in the words “leaped,” “seemed,” and “leap” slows down the rhythm of the line—and the action of the scene—by drawing out the auditory quality of the words. As a result, readers are drawn into the boy’s horrific experience as it unfolds.

The repetition of the verb “to leap” not only places emphasis on the detailed imagery of the scene, but also highlights the speaker’s sudden reluctance to continue anthropomorphizing the saw that “leaped out at the boy’s hand.”

Frost uses anthropomorphism, or the attribution of human-like behavior to nonhuman things, in his characterization of the saw. Like a villain, the saw leaps out and severs the boy’s hand “as if to prove saws knew what supper meant.” By anthropomorphizing the saw, Frost provides readers with something—or someone—to blame for the boy’s fatal mishap. However, the comfort of a clear distinction between good—the boy—and evil—the saw—quickly erodes as the poem progresses.

Lines ten and eleven are enjambed, which means that the sentence that begins in line ten continues through two line breaks and into line twelve. Enjambment speeds up the rhythm of the verse and intensifies the suspense that has been building from the beginning of the poem.

The comma that interrupts line seven is a caesura, or a pause within a line of verse that is often generated by punctuation. Here, the caesura calls attention to the repetition of “snarled and rattled,” which increases the poem’s foreboding tone.

Frost makes liberal use of sibilance, or the repetition of words containing the consonant “s” sound, in these lines. In saying aloud the words “stove,” “sticks,” “sweet,” “scented,” “stuff,” and “across,” readers emit a hissing sound that lends a musical quality to the words while creating suspense. Further, sibilance can slow down the reading process, so that readers are encouraged to focus on the poem’s vivid details.

Line three is an end-stopped line, or a line of verse that ends with some form of punctuation—in this case, a period. The pause encouraged by the end-stopped line encourages readers to reflect upon the sinister visual and sonic imagery introduced in the first line.