In the poem by Emily Dickinson called, "It sifts from Leaden Sieves", Emily alludes to how deep the snow is by stating that it ruffles the wrists of posts and relating it to white ruffles which is part of some dresses that a queen might wear thereby suggesting that it is high and deep.
It then stills it's Artsans which are the snow particles on the road this making it slippery even though it appears that the road is solid.
The main poetic device used in this stanza is simile. A simile compares two or more things using the word "as" or "like".
In this stanza, the writer compares the action of snow(which is the subject of the entire poem) on the wrists of posts to the ankles of a queen using the word "as". "It Ruffles Wrists of Posts As Ankles of a Queen ". This means that snow changes the appearance of a regular object to a strange one.
The use of the word "like" is also used to compare the the stillness caused by the action of a snow to a ghost. " Then stills its Artisans - like Ghosts -
Denying they have been -"
The writer also uses allegory to describe deeply the characteristics of snow and its actions.
