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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. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
1. What does the speaker feel by the end of the poem? Are they still willing to wait forever for their lover, or do they come to realize that it will be too hard to wait forever? Look at the last stanza and think about how it compares to the previous stanzas.
2. Some think the fourth stanza represents the speaker’s belief that they will meet their lover in heaven, so they are willing to wait until death. Others think it means the speaker is willing to end their life on the chance that they will meet their lover again after they die. Which do you think is the correct interpretation and why? If you think there is a different interpretation, explain your rationale. (It may be helpful to note that Emily Dickinson was Christian, but she constantly wavered in her faith throughout her life.)
3. Think about this poem in the context of a relationship. Do you think this kind of devotion is healthy and a sign of true love, or do you think the emotions suggest a sign of harmful dependency? Think about other media you’ve seen that depicts love like this. Do you think our society encourages this kind of love? Do you agree or disagree with these depictions?
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
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
There is no Frigate like a Book
Emily Dickinson