A Visitor in Marl
poem 391
A Visitor in Marl - meaning Summary
Ephemeral Touch and Loss
The poem describes a mysterious nightly visitor who subtly arranges and beautifies flowers, leaving them "orderly as Busts" and "Elegant as Glass," then departs before sunrise. Its touch both creates and erases: evidence of contact—footprints, kisses, impressions—disappears by morning. Dickinson presents a paradox of transformative intimacy that leaves no trace, suggesting themes of transient beauty, invisible agency, and the elusiveness of experience. The tone is quietly astonished and slightly mournful, contemplating how powerful encounters can be both formative and ephemeral.
Read Complete AnalysesA Visitor in Marl Who influences Flowers Till they are orderly as Busts And Elegant as Glass Who visits in the Night And just before the Sun Concludes his glistening interview Caresses and is gone But whom his fingers touched And where his feet have run And whatsoever Mouth be kissed Is as it had not been
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