Over and Over, Like a Tune

Over and Over, Like a Tune - meaning Summary

Memory as Sacred Music

Dickinson compares memory to a recurring hymn that replays scenes and feelings like a sacred march. The poem treats recollection as both haunting and exalted: echoes of past lives or events arrive in ceremonial fragments too magnificent for ordinary human triumph, suggesting they belong to a divine procession. The tone mixes awe and distance, portraying remembrance as an involuntary, ritualized music that points beyond personal experience toward the transcendent.