Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THERE'S A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT by EMILY DICKINSON

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

Last Line: On the look of Death
Subject(s): WINTER; LIGHT; DEATH;
There's a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons,
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.
Heavenly hurt it gives us ;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings are.
None may teach it anything,
'T is the seal, despair,-
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.
When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath ;
When it goes, 't is like the distance
On the look of death



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