Heart! We will forget him!
You and I — tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave —
I will forget the light!

When you have done, pray tell me
That I may straight begin!
Haste! lest while you’re lagging
I remember him!

Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem Heart! We will forget him!

44 Comments

  1. story says:

    this poem is really touching.and it has great emotion

  2. Morris says:

    This is very wonderfull poem. I love it! But, I still confuse about the meaning of the poem.

  3. Rawan says:

    I think Dickinson is one of the best American poet. In this poem, she has conflict between her heart and her mind to choose her love, so his mind spoke to her heart trying to persuade the heart to give up this love which is impossible.

  4. kelly says:

    what does the poem means. and i love the poem very much but i dont know what it means.

  5. kasey says:

    omg! i sang this in choir as a freshman last yr in high school

  6. Big K says:

    Poetry makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I like to curl up for hours with a blankie and enjoy a nice poem. My boyfriend and I read poetry to each other before we uh-huhhh….

  7. jaymi says:

    This is such a wonderful poem. I think it’s easy for most of us to relate to the inner conflict between the heart and mind.

  8. kelvin says:

    i like and love you poetry alot

  9. jazz says:

    this poem reminds me of ancient ninja folklore. the way the ninja moves is similar to the diction that Emily uses in Heart! the samuri blade is sharp and stings with truth as does the words of my dear close and personal friend, Emily Dickenson. by examining and analyzing the attacking and blocking techniques of the japaneese ninjas (these moves are i llegal in the United States) we can observe the subtle intracacies of this poem.

  10. Gary says:

    The poem seems to me to contain a sense of ‘stepping back’ from emotion, even if the emotion has been keenly felt. The stepping back is important for the creation of the poem, which has beauty but also precision and formality. – Emily never wallows. The love affair with the word will outlast the love affair with the man.

  11. Emma says:

    In the version of this beautiful poem that I know, instead of saying “That I may straight begin!” it says “That I my thoughts may dim,” which I like more.

  12. Lia Mungor says:

    You open your heart and let him in. Looking for everlasting relationship, it turned out in vain.
    When your heart been torn in two…The pain will
    be there wherever you go.

  13. Bee says:

    This has been arranged into an incredibly beautiful SSA *soprano, soprano, alto* arrangement, and was sung at Delta State Honor’s Choir last year. It was so amazing ^_^

  14. stephanie says:

    i really enjoyed this poem. the meaning touched my heart and appealed to me . overall the poem was beautiful!

  15. Jessica says:

    i loved this poem because it has a great meaning. The way the author expresses her feelings is very good and it can help in peoples lifes.

  16. Brittany says:

    I have evaluated this poem many times, yet the meaning never fails to touch me. The mind talking to the heart in hope that the heart will forget first of the man she loved dearly. Ironicly, the mind wants to forget, but has trouble letting go. It tells the heart that when it is finished forgetting about him to tell it so it can begin to forget. It is always a struggle between the mind and heart when it comes to love.

    Heart! We will forget him!(It is almost demanding itself and the heart to forget.)
    You and I — tonight!(Here, just the two of them. The dash emphasizes the word “tonight” to give the poem a violence and a difference in the way it is written.)
    You may forget the warmth he gave –(heart is accociated with love in most ways, but in all reality, it is only an organ. The warmth is the feeling of acceptance and joy in this man. To forget the warmth would be to ease the pain she felt in the absence thereof.)
    I will forget the light!(Light not being the physical term. She gives his radiance a form as to light. The light is the internal glow that your mind percieves in people.)

    When you have done, pray tell me(She tells the heart to tell her mind when it is finished forgetting, here. So the mind would not have as much trouble forgetting the man, it lets the heart forget first.)
    That I may straight begin!(Again, when the heart is finished, the mind is looking to make it easier on it to forget the person she once loved. It would be very difficult to just drop a feeling like this and forget.)
    Haste! lest while you’re lagging (“Hurry!” the mind tells the heart. While the heart has not forgotten, the mind is still thinking on him, and the pain is rough.)
    I remember him! (The mind will remember the pain as the heart attempts to forget. Here, the point is though it wants to ease the pain, the effort to ease it is harder. In the deep ends of the mind, it doesn’t want to forget the man because of the good times, but the pain expressed in the poem is too much.)

  17. Samantha says:

    This poem shows how Emily is trying to get over a love that went sour…

  18. miranda says:

    i love ur poem so much

  19. Karolyn says:

    This poem came to me as a vocalist. I was learning Aaron Coplands setting of it, and the words just struck me. I was going through a painful break-up, and Emily’s poem was so real. It was what I was feeling. And even though a year has passed, I still think of him, and I then listen to this poem/art song.

  20. Dacolette says:

    Reading this poem makes me realize that what im going through is normal. Though it could have been a year now, yet still the pain is there. I see him daily and he is unaffected. Why cant it not be the same for me?

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