Emily Dickinson

It Might Be Lonelier

poem 405

It Might Be Lonelier - meaning Summary

Loneliness as Familiar Fate

The speaker presents loneliness as an established condition that shapes identity and expectation. She imagines that losing it—finding peace, hope, or joy—would be disorienting or even sacrilegious, crowding the small inner space prepared for suffering. Familiar pain is portrayed as more comfortable and coherent than unexpected happiness, which might intrude, disrupt ritualized sorrows, and feel unbearable. The closing image contrasts a known struggle with an uncertain, overwhelming delight, suggesting the speaker prefers the integrity of anticipated failure to the destabilizing promise of bliss.

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It might be lonelier Without the Loneliness I’m so accustomed to my Fate Perhaps the Other Peace Would interrupt the Dark And crowd the little Room Too scant by Cubits to contain The Sacrament of Him I am not used to Hope It might intrude upon Its sweet parade blaspheme the place Ordained to Suffering It might be easier To fail with Land in Sight Than gain My Blue Peninsula To perish of Delight

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