Blossoms will run away,
Cakes reign but a Day,
But Memory like Melody
Is pink Eternally.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem Blossoms will run away,

1 Comment

  1. Willem Ernst says:

    It is one of my beliefs that money is like sex: both commodities are important but not essential. When someone once responded to this belief by asking: “Then what IS essential?”, I decided to turn to the best poet I know, for an answer: Miss Emily Dickinson.
    And among other, she came up with this little jewel, of which the first two lines speak for themselves, I guess. Blossoms wither away all too quickly and cakes will be stale after just a few hours. What carries an essence, however, must last forever; should contribute to a timeless base. And thus we arrive at the enigma, hidden in the last two lines. Miss Dickinson adds to the riddle that life is, by telling us that Memory like Melody is It. It here stands for pink Eternally and I wil have to say a few words about that shortly.
    First let me reveal a little personal secret: I like to recite by heart several of her poems. When I tried to do so from scratch with this little one, I made the following mistake, I recited it as follows: Memory AND Melody ARE pink Eternally.
    So there I went, tricked by Miss Dickinsons genius!
    So, YES, memory AND Melody ARE, but only if memory is melodious!
    And then it will be pink Eternally. But what is it with that pink? It stands for Faith, Love and Hope, is what I feel …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Emily Dickinson better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.