You’re Right
poem 234
You’re Right - context Summary
Composed 1861
Written in 1861 and published posthumously in 1891, this short Dickinson poem satirizes orthodox Calvinist ideas of salvation. It frames spiritual ascent in commercial and legal terms—cost, brokers, dividends, jail—undermining solemn doctrine by treating eternal consequences as transactional facts. The speaker acknowledges the narrow, difficult path to righteousness yet treats reward and punishment with wry detachment, suggesting both skepticism and acceptance. The poem reflects Dickinson’s ongoing engagement with, and questioning of, traditional theology and imagines afterlife outcomes in quotidian, economic language.
Read Complete AnalysesYou’re right the way is narrow And difficult the Gate And few there be Correct again That enter in thereat ‘Tis Costly So are purples! ‘Tis just the price of Breath With but the Discount of the Grave Termed by the Brokers Death! And after that there’s Heaven The Good Man’s Dividend And Bad Men go to Jail I guess
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