Emily Dickinson

There’s Something Quieter Than Sleep

poem 45

There’s Something Quieter Than Sleep - meaning Summary

Quiet Presence Beyond Sleep

The poem describes a delicate, mysterious presence within the speaker — "quieter than sleep" — imagined as a small, nameless fairy wearing a sprig. People touch or kiss it but do not disturb it; the speaker suppresses visible grief to avoid frightening it away. While neighbors speak openly of death, the speaker responds with circumspect, indirect remarks, emphasizing private reverence and restrained mourning rather than public lamentation.

Read Complete Analyses

There’s something quieter than sleep Within this inner room! It wears a sprig upon its breast And will not tell its name. Some touch it, and some kiss it Some chafe its idle hand It has a simple gravity I do not understand! I would not weep if I were they How rude in one to sob! Might scare the quiet fairy Back to her native wood! While simple-hearted neighbors Chat of the Early dead We prone to periphrasis Remark that Birds have fled!

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