What Did They Do Since I Saw Them?
poem 900
What Did They Do Since I Saw Them? - fact Summary
Dickinson's Afterlife Curiosity
The speaker imagines encountering the dead and bursts with eager, almost impatient questions about their activities since last seen. Curiosity and intimacy with the departed mingle with wry defiance: the speaker insists on keeping answers private, even resisting God’s claim to them. The poem reflects Dickinson’s preoccupation with mortality and the afterlife, combining playful irony with a serious, personal yearning to know what lies beyond.
Read Complete AnalysesWhat did They do since I saw Them? Were They industrious? So many questions to put Them Have I the eagerness That could I snatch Their Faces That could Their lips reply Not till the last was answered Should They start for the Sky. Not if Their Party were waiting, Not if to talk with Me Were to Them now, Homesickness After Eternity. Not if the Just suspect me And offer a Reward Would I restore my Booty To that Bold Person, God
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