“As imperceptibly as grief” Introduction

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“As imperceptibly as grief” Summary

“As imperceptibly as grief” Themes

• 

  Life, Loss, and Time

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “As imperceptibly as grief”

• Lines 1-4

  As imperceptibly as grief
  The summer lapsed away,—
  Too imperceptible, at last,
  To seem like perfidy.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  A quietness distilled,
  As twilight long begun,
  Or Nature, spending with herself
  Sequestered afternoon.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  The dusk drew earlier in,
  The morning foreign shone,—
  A courteous, yet harrowing grace,
  As guest who would be gone.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  And thus, without a wing,
  Or service of a keel,
  Our summer made her light escape
  Into the beautiful.

  

  

  

  

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“As imperceptibly as grief” Symbols

• 

  Light

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“As imperceptibly as grief” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Oxymoron

  

  

  

  

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• Synecdoche

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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“As imperceptibly as grief” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Imperceptibly
• Lapsed
• Perfidy
• Distilled
• Sequestered
• Harrowing
• Wing
• Keel

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “As imperceptibly as grief”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“As imperceptibly as grief” Speaker

“As imperceptibly as grief” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “As imperceptibly as grief”

More “As imperceptibly as grief” Resources

• External Resources

  • Cynthia Nixon interview — A clip in which actor Cynthia Nixon discusses playing Emily Dickinson in the brilliant film, A Quiet Passion. 

  • Dickinson's Meter — A valuable discussion of Emily Dickinson's use of meter.

  • In Our Time podcast — Experts talk about Emily Dickinson's life and work on the BBC's In Our Time podcast/radio show.

  • Other poems — A link to numerous other Emily Dickinson poems.

  • Educational resources — Resources for students about Emily Dickinson provided by the Dickinson museum (situated in her old house).

  • The Poem in Animation — A somewhat spooky animated version of the poem, complete with reading.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Dickinson

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  • Because I could not stop for Death —

  • Before I got my eye put out

  • Fame is a fickle food

  • Hope is the thing with feathers

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  • I cautious, scanned my little life

  • I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to—

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  • I died for Beauty—but was scarce

  • I dreaded that first Robin, so

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  • I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

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  • I taste a liquor never brewed

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  • Like Rain it sounded till it curved

  • Much Madness is divinest Sense -

  • My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun

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  • One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted

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  • Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

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