Of Course — I prayed —
And did God Care?
He cared as much as on the Air
A Bird — had stamped her foot —
And cried “Give Me” —
My Reason — Life —
I had not had — but for Yourself —
‘Twere better Charity
To leave me in the Atom’s Tomb —
Merry, and Nought, and gay, and numb —
Than this smart Misery.
Of Course — I prayed
Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem Of Course — I prayed
2 Comments
Leave a Reply
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.
It were better for me never to have been born, than for God to bring me into this miserable world and not care about me.
There are moments when we realize that we are truly weak–only strong enough to handle the safe and familiar, too fragile to add one more piece to the puzzle, to take one more step forward. The reality of our lives is so harsh that we sometimes wish we were one step back, still ignorant. But were we to take a step back, or even just stagnate, we would lose the beauty and power of learning from reality. We step forward, the best of us afraid.