Death is like the insect
Menacing the tree,
Competent to kill it,
But decoyed may be.

Bait it with the balsam,
Seek it with the saw,
Baffle, if it cost you
Everything you are.

Then, if it have burrowed
Out of reach of skill —
Wring the tree and leave it,
‘Tis the vermin’s will.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem Death is like the insect

1 Comment

  1. david says:

    What i think emily is trying to say to her self or others in this peom, is that she had been used by and was faulterd by a decoy like in life. Mabye Death is like the insect like whne some one crishes a bug someone crushed her heart.
    But this is wat i think of this poem becuse i was hurt once

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