“I dreaded that first Robin, so” Introduction

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“I dreaded that first Robin, so” Summary

“I dreaded that first Robin, so” Themes

• 

  Nature's Indifference to Suffering

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• 

  Time and Mortality

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “I dreaded that first Robin, so”

• Lines 1-4

  I dreaded that first Robin, so,
  But He is mastered, now,
  I'm some accustomed to Him grown,
  He hurts a little, though—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  I thought if I could only live
  Till that first Shout got by—
  Not all Pianos in the Woods
  Had power to mangle me—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  I dared not meet the Daffodils—
  For fear their Yellow Gown
  Would pierce me with a fashion
  So foreign to my own—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  I wished the Grass would hurry—
  So—when 'twas time to see—
  He'd be too tall, the tallest one
  Could stretch to look at me—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  I could not bear the Bees should come,
  I wished they'd stay away
  In those dim countries where they go,
  What word had they, for me?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  They're here, though; not a creature failed—
  No Blossom stayed away
  In gentle deference to me—
  The Queen of Calvary—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  Each one salutes me, as he goes,
  And I, my childish Plumes,
  Lift, in bereaved acknowledgment
  Of their unthinking Drums—

  

  

  

  

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“I dreaded that first Robin, so” Symbols

• 

  Spring

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“I dreaded that first Robin, so” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Irony

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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“I dreaded that first Robin, so” 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.

• Some accustomed
• Mangle
• 'Twas
• Bear
• Dim
• Word
• Deference
• Calvary
• Plumes
• Bereaved
• Unthinking

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “I dreaded that first Robin, so”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“I dreaded that first Robin, so” Speaker

“I dreaded that first Robin, so” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “I dreaded that first Robin, so”

More “I dreaded that first Robin, so” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem in Dickinson's Hand — Take a look at a manuscript of the poem.

  • Dickinson and Spring — Read more about the poet's relationship with spring.  

  • The Dickinson Museum — Find a trove of information about Dickinson's life and work at the Dickinson Museum.

  • Dickinson's Legacy — Learn how Dickinson's secret poetry was discovered and preserved. 

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Dickinson

  • A Bird, came down the Walk

  • After great pain, a formal feeling comes –

  • A Light exists in Spring

  • A Murmur in the Trees—to note—

  • A narrow Fellow in the Grass

  • An awful Tempest mashed the air—

  • As imperceptibly as grief

  • A still—Volcano—Life—

  • A Word dropped careless on a Page

  • 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

  • I cannot live with You –

  • I cautious, scanned my little life

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

  • I did not reach Thee

  • I died for Beauty—but was scarce

  • I dwell in Possibility –

  • I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

  • If I can stop one heart from breaking

  • I had been hungry, all the Years

  • I have a Bird in spring

  • I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -

  • I like a look of Agony

  • I like to see it lap the Miles

  • I measure every Grief I meet

  • I’m Nobody! Who are you?

  • I started Early — Took my Dog —

  • I taste a liquor never brewed

  • It was not Death, for I stood up

  • I—Years—had been—from Home—

  • Like Rain it sounded till it curved

  • Much Madness is divinest Sense -

  • My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun

  • Nature is what we see

  • One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted

  • Publication — is the Auction

  • Safe in their Alabaster Chambers

  • Shipwreck

  • Success is counted sweetest

  • Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

  • The Brain—is wider than the Sky—

  • The Bustle in a House

  • The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants

  • There came a Wind like a Bugle

  • There is no Frigate like a Book

  • There's a certain Slant of light

  • There's been a Death, in the Opposite House

  • The saddest noise, the sweetest noise

  • The Sky is low — the Clouds are mean

  • The Soul has bandaged moments

  • The Soul selects her own Society

  • The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –

  • They shut me up in Prose –

  • This is my letter to the world

  • This World is not Conclusion

  • 'Twas the old—road—through pain—

  • We grow accustomed to the Dark

  • What mystery pervades a well!

  • Whose cheek is this?

  • Wild nights - Wild nights!