There’s something quieter than sleep
Within this inner room!
It wears a sprig upon its breast —
And will not tell its name.

Some touch it, and some kiss it —
Some chafe its idle hand —
It has a simple gravity
I do not understand!

I would not weep if I were they —
How rude in one to sob!
Might scare the quiet fairy
Back to her native wood!

While simple-hearted neighbors
Chat of the “Early dead” —
We — prone to periphrasis
Remark that Birds have fled!

Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem There’s something quieter than sleep

3 Comments

  1. benjamin kennady says:

    i think that this poem shows what emily felt about the deaths of her friends/relatives

  2. Jessie says:

    I understood it more along the lines of death being the silence she spoke of, and that it was not death that weeped but the people for the dead, and that this weeping was an interruption of the perfect silence (death itself). In the poem, this weeping scared away the birds, destroying the calm and silence of the dead.

  3. Ariana says:

    In the first paragraph it hints that death is hidden in the silence. It reassures that death should not weep and scare the sweetest thing, for it is “rude” to intrude something peacefull and bring upon a negative environment.

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Your email address will not be published.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.