Emily Dickinson

Tho’ My Destiny Be Fustian

poem 163

Tho’ My Destiny Be Fustian - meaning Summary

Preference of Imperfect Love

The speaker contrasts her modest, rough fate with another woman’s finer, more fashionable life, declaring she prefers her own ‘‘gypsy’’ authenticity and sunburnt heart. Rather than enviable surface beauty, she values a love that outlasts seasonal decay: when frost touches the other’s forehead, the speaker and her beloved will "bloom eternally." The poem celebrates lasting, inward devotion over transient external refinement.

Read Complete Analyses

Tho’ my destiny be Fustian Hers be damask fine Tho’ she wear a silver apron I, a less divine Still, my little Gypsy being I would far prefer, Still, my little sunburnt bosom To her Rosier, For, when Frosts, their punctual fingers On her forehead lay, You and I, and Dr. Holland, Bloom Eternally! Roses of a steadfast summer In a steadfast land, Where no Autumn lifts her pencil And no Reapers stand!

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