Emily Dickinson

Me, Change! Me, Alter!

poem 268

Me, Change! Me, Alter! - meaning Summary

Change Deferred to Eternity

The speaker refuses present transformation, answering a call to change with a conditional promise: she will alter only in an eternal, diminished landscape. Images of an "Everlasting Hill," a "Smaller Purple," and a waning glow suggest change is postponed to a distant, sublime setting when earthly intensities have lessened. The poem frames personal change as something to be deferred until a quieter, more permanent realm is reached.

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Me, change! Me, alter! Then I will, when on the Everlasting Hill A Smaller Purple grows At sunset, or a lesser glow Flickers upon Cordillera At Day’s superior close!

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