It was not death, for I stood up, And all the dead lie down; It was not night, for all the bells Put out their tongues, for noon. It was not frost, for on my flesh I felt siroccos crawl, Nor fire, for just my marble feet Could keep a chancel cool. And yet it tasted like them all; The figures I have seen Set orderly, for burial, Reminded me of mine, As if my life were shaven And fitted to a frame, And could not breathe without a key; And I was like midnight, some, When everything that ticked has stopped, And space stares, all around, Or grisly frosts, first autumn morns, Repeal the beating ground. But most like chaos, --stopless, cool, Without a chance or spar, -- Or even a report of land To justify despair. . Emily Dickinson
About This Quote

This quote is one of the most important quotes in history, and for good reason. It sums up the importance of perseverance and determination in overcoming hardship. The speaker, like many before him, was left behind when his ship sank. He describes his ordeal in such vivid detail that the reader feels as if they are there with him, watching it happen.

A few key words describe what he feels: “dead”, “night”, “frost” and “chaos”. Emotions like these would be very difficult to endure and he proves that despite them he still remained positive and continued to try and find a way out. The speaker has nothing to cling onto but his own determination and he uses it to keep going when all hope seems lost.

Source: Im Nobody! Who Are You?

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  1. Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake. - Wallace Stevens
  2. To be great, be whole; Exclude nothing, exaggerate nothing that is not you. Be whole in everything. Put all you are Into the smallest thing you do. So, in each lake, the moon shines with splendor Because it blooms up above. - Fernando Pessoa
  3. The poet's job is to put into words those feelings we all have that are so deep, so important, and yet so difficult to name, to tell the truth in such a beautiful way, that people cannot live without it. - Jane Kenyon
  4. Truth is a friendthat asks for loyaltyand acceptancethen it enters our heartsdissolving the boundariesfreeing us from lonliness - Nirmala
  5. Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness. - Kahlil Gibran
More Quotes By Emily Dickinson
  1. If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.
  2. Morning without you is a dwindled dawn.
  3. Heart, we will forget him, You and I, tonight! You must forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light.
  4. The Heart wants what it wants - or else it does not care
  5. Till I loved I never lived.
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