Color Caste Denomination
poem 970
Color Caste Denomination - meaning Summary
Death Erases Color Divisions
The poem argues that death dissolves human-made categories of race, class, and color. Dickinson presents death as an impartial agent that rubs away visible distinctions, leaving the identities people cling to—complexion, social brands, private intuitions—blurred or erased. The metamorphosis image (chrysalis to butterfly) suggests exterior traits are transient while death’s perspective reveals essential equality. The final lines note how living minds find this leveling "unplausible," highlighting the tension between social prejudice and the poet’s claim that mortality exposes its insignificance.
Read Complete AnalysesColor Caste Denomination These are Time’s Affair Death’s diviner Classifying Does not know they are As in sleep All Hue forgotten Tenets put behind Death’s large Democratic fingers Rub away the Brand If Circassian He is careless If He put away Chrysalis of Blonde or Umber Equal Butterfly They emerge from His Obscuring What Death knows so well Our minuter intuitions Deem unplausible
Feel free to be first to leave comment.