Not Probable the Barest Chance
poem 346
Not Probable the Barest Chance - meaning Summary
A Missed Path to Paradise
The poem explores how the soul can stand on the verge of Paradise yet be undone by the smallest human lapse. Dickinson imagines a nearly perfect spiritual state disrupted by a careless smile or word, then extends the image to a traveler-bird seduced by earthly sweets and forgetting how to fly. The tone emphasizes fragility and the startling nearness of loss when moral or attentional slips occur.
Read Complete AnalysesNot probable The barest Chance A smile too few a word too much And far from Heaven as the Rest The Soul so close on Paradise What if the Bird from journey far Confused by Sweets as Mortals are Forget the secret of His wing And perish but a Bough between Oh, Groping feet Oh Phantom Queen!
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