Dying! to Be Afraid of Thee
poem 831
Dying! to Be Afraid of Thee - meaning Summary
Fear and the Art of Dying
Dickinson’s poem explores fear of death as an intimate, agonized encounter rather than a distant event. Using military metaphors, the speaker presents dying as an attack that exposes the heart and separates love from the self. The demise forces a confrontation between competing loyalties—Love and Certainty—within the dying gaze. The poem treats death’s violence and the painful leaving of beloved attachments as the emotional core of the experience.
Read Complete AnalysesDying! To be afraid of thee One must to thine Artillery Have left exposed a Friend Than thine old Arrow is a Shot Delivered straighter to the Heart The leaving Love behind. Not for itself, the Dust is shy, But, enemy, Beloved be Thy Batteries divorce. Fight sternly in a Dying eye Two Armies, Love and Certainty And Love and the Reverse.
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