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Emily DickinsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The poem opens with the unknown speaker remarking on a ray of light they see. Their casual observation reflects the informal and personal nature of this poem. The short fragments suggest the speaker’s mind is wandering from topic to topic as they make connections, though those connections are not always clear to the reader. The first connection is clearer than others in the poem. The quality of the light makes the speaker comment that it is a winter afternoon, suggesting the light is not the strong, warm light of summer days. The harder break of a dash rather than a comma reflects the surprise of the next line. Rather than freeing or enlightening the speaker, the light “oppresses” (Line 3) the speaker. The speaker then compares this oppression to the “Heft / Of Cathedral Tunes” (Lines 3-4). While this image suggests the oppression has weight, the choice of the word “heft” also suggests an upward motion and an importance that the word “weight” does not.
The lack of full end stops, such as periods, makes grouping these lines into cohesive ideas challenging. This makes it difficult to be sure what pronouns like “it” are referring to.
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird, came down the Walk
Emily Dickinson
A Clock stopped—
Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
Emily Dickinson
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
Emily Dickinson
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Emily Dickinson
Hope is a strange invention
Emily Dickinson
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
Emily Dickinson
I Can Wade Grief
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
Emily Dickinson
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I should die
Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the fall
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Emily Dickinson
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Emily Dickinson
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson