The Day Came Slow
The Day Came Slow - meaning Summary
Dawn as Grand Arrival
The poem describes a slow, ceremonial sunrise that bursts into light with jewel-like imagery. Dickinson personifies natural forces—the wind as a prince, birds arranged like attendants—and treats the orchard and morning as a lavish, domestic reception. The speaker experiences awe and smallness, positioned as a respectful guest in the "parlor of the day," observing grandeur and order in the newly revealed world.
Read Complete AnalysesThe day came slow, till five o’clock, Then sprang before the hills, Like hindered rubies, or the light, A sudden musket spills. The purple could not keep the east. The sunrise shook from fold. Like breadths of topaz, packed a night, The lady just unrolled. The happy winds their timbrels took; The birds in docile rows, Arranged themselves around their prince. (The wind is prince of those.) The orchard sparkled like a Jew, How mighty ’twas to stay, A guest in this stupendous place, The parlor of the day.
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