The poet then goes on to create an ominous, depressing atmosphere. He describes the tree where the bee hive is as 'rotten', which hints of the fragility of existence and that the bee hive itself is close to death as well. He also uses other negative words like 'black' and 'stagnant' to accentuate the feeling of impending doom. The poet then describes the group of friends as 'gloved and masked to the eyes like plundering desperadoes'. This suggests criminality and foreshadows the act of evil about to take place. The poet then ends the second stanza with effective use of personification to describe the evening sky the group of friends wait for the 'light to drain from the wounded sky'. Readers immediately draw parallels with the draining of blood from a wounded person. With the use of personification, the poet effectively foreshadows the terrible burning of the bee hive.
Light also plays a role in the crafting of the atmosphere of impending disaster. The first stanza looks relatively light, with words such as 'summer' and 'a-glitter', implying an abundance of light. The second stanza follows up with phrases like 'half-cloudy evening' and 'crickets' to hint that light is slowly leaving the setting of the poem, and the poem itself. In the third stanza, when the group of friends finally approach the hives, the bee sentries attack them in the 'darkening air'. The personification of 'air' here is very powerful. Air is normally colourless, and darkness is insubstantial; by giving the air an action the air darkens the poet gives both the air, and more importantly, the darkness, a substantiality, as if the darkness has materialized. This complete absence of light sets the atmosphere for the burning of the bee hive.
Moreover, in order to heighten the emotional impact of the burning, the poet subtly changes the persona's attitude towards the bees. The poet tries to humanize the bees so that we can actually sympathize with them. For example, he uses the verb 'stabbed' to describe the bees' attack. Stabbing is a human action. Moreover, the poet describes the injured bees as 'groaning', usually a very human behaviour. Next, the poet compares the bee hive to 'Carthage under Roman torches' and 'Troy', cities which were destroyed by fire. By comparing the bee hive to human cities and the bees to humans, the poet simultaneously changes the persona's attitude towards bees and elicits sympathy for the bees from the readers.
The poet than draws our attention to the dismal aftermath of the 'raid' by describing the remains of the hive as 'earth-black smouldering ashes'. From the ruins of the hive, the group of friends pull out the remaining honey, their 'plunder'. The poet sustains the metaphor comparing the friends to bandits by describing the honey as 'gold', which can have two interpretations. It might simply refer to the golden colour of honey, or alternatively, the gold and riches that bandits 'plunder' from innocent victims. By the use of the word 'gold', the poet makes the action of burning the bee hive seem evil and wicked to the readers. The line beginning 'Little enough their gold...' is also effective in driving home the anti-climax and lack of joy in their act.
Even the persona's tone changes. The persona now thinks of the burning as a 'tragedy', 'distinct' and 'small'. The juxtaposition of '[a] hive burned' with 'on a cool night' draws our attention. The use of 'a' hints at the seeming insignificance of that one act. The persona's next line negates this interpretation. He states that the 'loss is a precious stone', possibly meaning that the burning has had a great influence on him. Also, the comparison of the act to 'a nectar distilled in time' seems to be a metaphor of the slow realization of the implications of that one act, and that after many years, the persona has finally understood 'the truth of winter', possibly meaning the significance of death.
In short, the poet has, through this poem, presented a few vivid scenes sketching the spiritual growth of a young person and his growing awareness of the darkness of human nature, and how implacably it drives our actions it is the 'fallen heart that does not cease to fall'.