"The Wind – tapped like a tired Man" is Emily Dickinson's tale of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. When the poem's speaker treats a wind tapping at the door as an honored guest, they're rewarded with a vision of nature's eerie beauty—and with a gust of creative inspiration. This poem, like most of Dickinson's work, was only published after Dickinson's death, first appearing in the posthumous collection Poems (1891).
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The Full Text of “The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –”
1The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –
2And like a Host – "Come in"
3I boldly answered – entered then
4My Residence within
5A Rapid – footless Guest –
6To offer whom a Chair –
7Were as impossible as hand
8A Sofa to the Air –
9No Bone had He to bind Him –
10His Speech was like the Push
11Of numerous Humming Birds at once
12From a superior Bush –
13His Countenance – a Billow –
14His Fingers, as He passed
15Let go a music – as of tunes
16Blown tremulous in Glass –
17He visited – still flitting –
18Then like a timid Man
19Again, He tapped – 'twas flurriedly –
20And I became alone –
The Full Text of “The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –”
1The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –
2And like a Host – "Come in"
3I boldly answered – entered then
4My Residence within
5A Rapid – footless Guest –
6To offer whom a Chair –
7Were as impossible as hand
8A Sofa to the Air –
9No Bone had He to bind Him –
10His Speech was like the Push
11Of numerous Humming Birds at once
12From a superior Bush –
13His Countenance – a Billow –
14His Fingers, as He passed
15Let go a music – as of tunes
16Blown tremulous in Glass –
17He visited – still flitting –
18Then like a timid Man
19Again, He tapped – 'twas flurriedly –
20And I became alone –
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“The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –” Summary
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“The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –” Themes
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The Strangeness of Nature
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Creativity and Inspiration
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –”
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Lines 1-4
The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –
And like a Host – "Come in"
I boldly answered – entered then
My Residence within -
Lines 5-8
A Rapid – footless Guest –
To offer whom a Chair –
Were as impossible as hand
A Sofa to the Air – -
Lines 9-12
No Bone had He to bind Him –
His Speech was like the Push
Of numerous Humming Birds at once
From a superior Bush – -
Lines 13-16
His Countenance – a Billow –
His Fingers, as He passed
Let go a music – as of tunes
Blown tremulous in Glass – -
Lines 17-20
He visited – still flitting –
Then like a timid Man
Again, He tapped – 'twas flurriedly –
And I became alone –
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“The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –” Symbols
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The Wind's Visit
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“The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Personification
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Simile
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Caesura
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Alliteration
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“The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –” 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.
- Superior
- Countenance
- Billow
- Tremulous
- Flurriedly
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- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –” Speaker
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“The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –”
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More “The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poem in Dickinson's Hand — See an image of a manuscript of the poem.
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The Poem as a Song — Listen to the poem set to (appropriately odd and unpredictable) music.
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The Emily Dickinson Museum — Visit the website of the Emily Dickinson museum to find a wealth of resources on Dickinson's life and work.
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A Brief Introduction to Dickinson — Read a short article on what makes Dickinson's work special and important, and on how she stood out from the literary world around her.
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Dickinson's Bedroom — Watch a short video about Emily Dickinson's bedroom, the room where she wrote the bulk of her poetry—like the house in this poem, a normal backdrop for something extraordinary!
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Dickinson
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