Emily Dickinson

Low at My Problem Bending

poem 69

Low at My Problem Bending - meaning Summary

Small Trouble, Larger Duty

The speaker describes being bent over a personal problem when an even larger, calmer problem appears. Attention shifts from intimate anxiety to a grander, more formal challenge that renders the speaker’s usual tools inadequate. Attempts to organize or calculate—"busy pencil," "figures"—fail, leaving the hands and mind baffled. The poem sketches a sudden perspective change that exposes limits of practical methods when faced with a more encompassing puzzle.

Read Complete Analyses

Low at my problem bending, Another problem comes Larger than mine Serener Involving statelier sums. I check my busy pencil, My figures file away. Wherefore, my baffled fingers They perplexity?

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