Emily Dickinson

Love Is Anterior to Life

poem 917

Love Is Anterior to Life - meaning Summary

Love Before and Beyond Life

This brief lyric asserts love as a metaphysical first principle: it precedes life, survives death, and undergirds creation and the world. Dickinson treats love not as an emotion bound to individuals but as an organizing force that originates existence and amplifies the material realm. The poem compresses a sweeping metaphysical claim into four lines, inviting readers to regard love as cosmic, foundational, and enduring.

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Love is anterior to Life Posterior to Death Initial of Creation, and The Exponent of Earth

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