Comment 8 of 8, added on November 30th, 2011 at 1:16 PM.

she is really just describing when its raining... and the rain can be
interpreted a lot of different ways

Naomi from United States

Comment 6 of 8, added on March 7th, 2011 at 1:42 AM.
the real eaning
You guys are so blind there is no deeper meaning. She is discribing a time
when it is raining!!!

michelle from United Kingdom

Comment 4 of 8, added on November 22nd, 2009 at 7:52 PM.

This poem is one of her different poems, she is talking about her dropping
apples from trees.

Bob from United States

Comment 2 of 8, added on December 15th, 2008 at 11:20 PM.

Hmm, what I find intriguing about this Dickinson poem is the subtle way she
seems to get at the relationship of the individual to the group and how
each is inherent in the other. I see this particularly with lines 7 and 8
with her discussion of the pearls, immediately followed by her imagining
"what Necklaces could be" when brought together. It's everywhere,
really--in the way that we begin with a drop here and there, but it then
goes on to "help the Brook" and still "to help the sea." It started small,
then was built upon little by little, until finally, it's a large mass.
It's reminiscent of the way Walt Whitman adresses the same theme of the
individual vs. the whole in his works, too. It's appropriate considering
that the poet is speaking of a cultural democracy and something new, which
is perhaps why she suggests "The Dust [is] replaced." The word 'hoisted'
automatically conjured up images of the flag for me, perhaps speaking to
the possibilty of democracy again. This point is reiterated, then, with her
choice of diction in line 12 with "spangles," alluding to the Star-Spangled
Banner, the national anthem of the US. The fact that this word, which
implies something of high echelon and glory, be placed next to such a lowly
thing as "bushes" can be read as, again, speaking to encompassing all
classes and 'common people' in a search for democracy rather than to omit
them. Also, 'Eaves' and 'Gables' are all parts of a roof, so there, too,
she is encompassing the smaller parts that make up the whole. 'Orient'
could possibly be used here in the context of the pearls, an orient pearl;
or the countries of Asia; or the 'orient' of being familiarized with new
surroundings. I have a couple theories about the ending, but I think that
would require a much more intensive reading of the rest of the work--I've
outlined the main stuff that really grabbed me with this work. Hope it
helps.

amanda f from United States