"An honest Tear"

By Emily Dickinson
[Analysis]
An honest Tear [1]
Is durabler than Bronze -- [2]
This Cenotaph [3]
May each that dies -- [4]
Reared by itself -- [5]
No Deputy suffice -- [6]
Gratitude bears [7]
When Obelisk decays [8]
Poem 1192 [F1232]
"An honest Tear"
Analysis by David Preest
[Poem]
Emily wishes that each of us when we die may have the Cenotaph of an 'honest Tear' of regret at our passing. No building is needed for
this Cenotaph, but neither can there be any substitute for it. And such tears of gratitude will endure 'when Obelisk decays.'
It is either a coincidence or Emily was aware that the Roman poet Horace had made the claim that his poems were 'perennius aere' =
'durabler than Bronze.' (Odes 3:30:1). If she was aware, she may have hoped that the same would be true of this poem. It can only be true
that the 'honest Tear' is 'durabler than Bronze,' if that tear comes from successive generations, for example for the early death of Schubert.
In line 4 'have' needs to be supplied after 'each.'
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