Emily Dickinson

This That Would Greet an Hour Ago

poem 778

This That Would Greet an Hour Ago - meaning Summary

Presence Turned to Distance

The poem observes how something that would once have greeted the speaker warmly has become remote and emotionally cold. Images of a vanished welcome—no glow from a heavenly guest, no warmth from noon—stress the abrupt shift from intimacy to indifferent stillness. The speaker challenges the reader to match that new, austere silence and calm, suggesting resignation and the hardening of feeling after loss or separation.

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This that would greet an hour ago Is quaintest Distance now Had it a Guest from Paradise Nor glow, would it, nor bow Had it a notice from the Noon Nor beam would it nor warm Match me the Silver Reticence Match me the Solid Calm

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