Emily Dickinson

Down Time’s Quaint Stream

Down Time’s Quaint Stream - meaning Summary

Life as Uncertain Voyage

The poem compares life to a boat forced to drift along Times stream without guidance. The speaker emphasizes lack of control over destination and fate, framing uncertainty as risk that would deter any prudent sailor or pirate. By posing rhetorical questions about taking such chances, the poem highlights human anxiety about fortune and the wish for a reliable guide or guarantee amid inevitable unpredictability.

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Down Time’s quaint stream Without an oar We are enforced to sail Our Port a secret Our Perchance a Gale What Skipper would Incur the Risk What Buccaneer would ride Without a surety from the Wind Or schedule of the Tide –

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