Monday, March 5, 2007

Emily Dickinson's "Behind me-dips Eternity"




Behind me-dips Eternity
Before Me-Immortality-
Myself-the Term between-
Death but the Drift of Eastern Gray,
Dissolving into Dawn away,
Before the West begin-'Tis Kingdoms-afterward-
they say-
In perfect-pauseless Monarchy-
Whose Prince-is Son of None-
Himself-His Dateless Dynasty-
Himself-Himself diversify-
In Duplicate divine-'Tis Miracle before Me-then-
'Tis Miracle behind-between-
A Crescent in the Sea-
With Midnight to the North of Her-
And Midnight to the South of Her-
And Maelstrom-in the Sky-

I love this poem. I love the description of neverending existance, how there is much before us and much after us, and we, in this life, are standing between it all. My favorite image in the poem is the "Crescent in the Sea." What I see from this image is that the moon reflecting on the water represents heaven's reflection in my life. Though heaven is far away, we can all have the light from heaven, or the Light of Christ, reflecting in our own lives. Emily Dickinson is a genius!

1 comment:

Ellie said...

I love this one, too! It's beautiful and I really like your appliance of the crescent in the water to life, it made me think...