Analysis: "Before The Ice Is in The Pools" by Emily Dickinson

You might also like

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 1

"Before the ice is in the pools" By Emily Dickinson [Analysis]

Before the ice is in the pools --[1] Before the skaters go,[2] Or any check at nightfall[3] Is tarnished by the snow --[4] Before the fields have finished,[5] Before the Christmas tree,[6] Wonder upon wonder[7] Will arrive to me![8] What we touch the hems of[9] On a summer's day --[10] What is only walking[11] Just a bridge away --[12] That which sings so -- speaks so --[13] When there's no one here --[14] Will the frock I wept in[15] Answer me to wear?[16]
Poem 37 [F46] "Before the ice is in the pools" Analysis by David Preest [Poem]

Emily does not name the 'wonder' which will arrive in Amherst before winter and Christmas. As she 'wept' (line 15) in its absence, and it lives 'just a bridge away,' the wonder is almost certainly Sue. 'What we touch the hems of' reminds us of the woman in Matthew's gospel who touched the hem of Jesus' garment, saying, 'If I do but touch his garment, I shall be made whole.' (Matthew 9:21) Emily, it seems, was enough of an ordinary woman to wonder what frock to wear when Sue returns.
Top

You might also like