Undue Significance a Starving Man Attaches
poem 439
Undue Significance a Starving Man Attaches - meaning Summary
Desire Inflated by Distance
Dickinson explores how desire and perception inflate value. A starving man assigns exaggerated worth to distant food; its remoteness makes it seem hopeless and therefore desirable. Eating the food relieves hunger but also reveals that the imagined pleasure was partly illusion—spices and savor existed more in anticipation than in reality. The poem suggests distance and longing create meaning that the actual experience cannot fully sustain.
Read Complete AnalysesUndue Significance a starving man attaches To Food Far off He sighs and therefore Hopeless And therefore Good Partaken it relieves indeed But proves us That Spices fly In the Receipt It was the Distance Was Savory
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