I Think Just How My Shape Will Rise
poem 237
I Think Just How My Shape Will Rise - meaning Summary
Forgiveness After Death
Dickinson imagines her posthumous self already forgiven and transformed in Heaven, where bodily features vanish and her prayers become "shapeless." She likens herself to a "Sparrow of your Care," recalling past anguish eased by mercy and extending that hope to ultimate reconciliation. The poem balances yearning for divine attention with tentative trust, suggesting an ache for redemption that outlasts doubt and conventional sacrament: hope of pardon before formal absolution.
Read Complete AnalysesI think just how my shape will rise When I shall be forgiven Till Hair and Eyes and timid Head Are out of sight in Heaven I think just how my lips will weigh With shapeless quivering prayer That you so late Consider me The Sparrow of your Care I mind me that of Anguish sent Some drifts were moved away Before my simple bosom broke And why not this if they? And so I con that thing forgiven Until delirious borne By my long bright and longer trust I drop my Heart unshriven!
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