The poem
We learn it in Retreating How vast an one Was recently among us -- A Perished Sun
Endear in the departure How doubly more Than all the Golden presence It was -- before --
We learn it in Retreating
1083Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
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- Maurício Cléto134 words
The absence emphasizes the value. We can not realize how important a person close to us is. His/ her presence is enough, so we do not keep philosophical thoughts. The sun image is negative in the retreating moment; it is the sunset: “a Perished Sun”. The sun warms us; it is shining bright and it is a life center. The hugeness of the metaphor “a Perished Sun” give us the drama of the rupture and leads us to a blank: there is no more “Sun”, no “center” – “the planets” do not know where to go. “The Golden presence” is “doubly more” seeing because our eyes is staring at the Sun, because in our hearts and mind it will never be a “a Perished Sun”. Even in the absence we still feel its warmth.