I Was the Slightest in the House
poem 486
I Was the Slightest in the House - fact Summary
Reflects Dickinson's Reclusion
The poem presents a speaker who deliberately occupies the smallest space and keeps a spare, private life—a lamp, a book, and a geranium. She avoids speaking, is ashamed of public noise, and imagines dying unnoticed. The quiet, self-effacing stance dramatizes retreat from social life and the comfort found in minimal domestic objects. This temperament aligns with Emily Dickinson’s well-known reclusiveness and preference for solitude.
Read Complete AnalysesI was the slightest in the House I took the smallest Room At night, my little Lamp, and Book And one Geranium So stationed I could catch the Mint That never ceased to fall And just my Basket Let me think I’m sure That this was all I never spoke unless addressed And then, ’twas brief and low I could not bear to live aloud The Racket shamed me so And if it had not been so far And any one I knew Were going I had often thought How noteless I could die
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