Emily Dickinson wrote many beautiful nature poems. I find 'I'll Tell You How the Sun Rose' particularly beautiful.

According to poemanalysis.com, this Emily Dickinson poem "describes the rising and setting of the sun on a literal level while juxtaposing life and death."

I had to Google a couple of words to help me understand the meanings:

'Dominie' is an old term for a clergyman. This, along with 'steeples' and 'flock' has led some people to view I'll Tell You How the Sun Rose as a religious poem. Maybe sunrises and sunsets were like a spiritual experience for Emily Dickinson?

poemanalysis.com points out several clever metaphors. The 'Dominie in grey' 'leading the flock away' could be the poets way of describing the grey dusky sky gradually concealing its fleecy white clouds.

And the strangest looking word of all (unless you live in North America) 'Bobolinks'...is a species of North American blackbird. It's amazing how much you can learn from poems!!

I’ll tell you how the Sun rose – 
A Ribbon at a time – 
The Steeples swam in Amethyst – 
The news, like Squirrels, ran – 
The Hills untied their Bonnets – 
The Bobolinks – begun –
Then I said softly to myself –
“That must have been the Sun”!
But how he set – I know not –
There seemed a purple stile
That little Yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while – 
Till when they reached the other side – 
A Dominie in Gray – 
Put gently up the evening Bars – 
And led the flock away –


#shortspoem #poetryshort #emilydickinson #learnenglishthroughstory #learnenglishthroughstorylevel1

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