When I Was Small, a Woman Died
poem 596
When I Was Small, a Woman Died - meaning Summary
Resurfacing Grief and Pride
The poem reflects on a childhood memory of a woman’s death and the return of her only son from war. Dickinson contrasts the slow, private passage of seasons after her loss with the suddenness of battlefield death. The speaker imagines the mother and son as proud apparitions, and observes public acclaim for distant bravery. The tone mixes intimate mourning, ironic distance, and a meditation on how society commemorates valor.
Read Complete AnalysesWhen I was small, a Woman died Today her Only Boy Went up from the Potomac His face all Victory To look at her How slowly The Seasons must have turned Till Bullets clipt an Angle And He passed quickly round If pride shall be in Paradise Ourself cannot decide Of their imperial Conduct No person testified But, proud in Apparition That Woman and her Boy Pass back and forth, before my Brain As even in the sky I’m confident that Bravoes Perpetual break abroad For Braveries, remote as this In Scarlet Maryland
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