"Knock with tremor " By Emily Dickinson [Analysis]

Knock with tremor [1] These are Caesars [2] Should they be at Home [3] Flee as if you trod unthinking [4] On the Foot of Doom [5] These receded to accostal [6] Centuries ago [7] Should they rend you with "How are you" [8] What have you to show? [9]
Poem 1325 [F1333] "Knock with tremor" Analysis by David Preest [Poem]

The 'Caesars' of this poem may be Emily's ancestors and especially her recently deceased father, or perhaps famous poets of the past. To imagine either group so vividly that they are summoned to her presence would be like treading 'unthinking/on the Foot of Doom.' They may have been summoned by death centuries ago, but what would she have to show to them for her lifetime's achievements? Thomas Johnson says that this poem was written on the back of a note saying: Dear Father Emily

But whether or not the note relates to the poem it is impossible to say.
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