Emily Dickinson

It Troubled Me as Once I Was

poem 600

It Troubled Me as Once I Was - meaning Summary

Childhood Questions and Faith

The poem describes a speaker’s lingering childhood puzzlement about why the sky does not collapse. Using the image of an "Atom" falling and the solid "Blue" above, it contrasts simple early questions with later, larger problems the speaker postpones until understanding grows. The tone mixes scientific curiosity and spiritual wonder, ending on the unresolved mystery of why the heavens remain intact rather than tumbling down.

Read Complete Analyses

It troubled me as once I was For I was once a Child Concluding how an Atom fell And yet the Heavens held The Heavens weighed the most by far Yet Blue and solid stood Without a Bolt that I could prove Would Giants understand? Life set me larger problems Some I shall keep to solve Till Algebra is easier Or simpler proved above Then too&m dash;be comprehended What sorer puzzled me Why Heaven did not break away And tumble Blue on me

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