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Ririro · Poems

Troubled about many things

poems--troubled-about-many-things

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How many times these low feet staggered, Only the soldered mouth can tell; Try! can you stir the awful rivet? Try! can you lift the hasps of steel?

Stroke the cool forehead, hot so often, Lift, if you can, the listless hair; Handle the adamantine fingers Never a thimble more shall wear.

Buzz the dull flies on the chamber window; Brave shines the sun through the freckled pane; Fearless the cobweb swings from the ceiling— Indolent housewife, in daisies lain!

Emily Dickinson was a 19th-century American poet whose work remained largely unpublished during her lifetime, yet she is now considered one of the most original voices in the English language. Known for her slant rhyme, compressed imagery, and unflinching engagement with mortality, Dickinson brings all three qualities to bear in this poem, where the domestic details of thimbles and cobwebs become quietly devastating.

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  "summary": "\"Troubled about many things\" is a poem by Emily Dickinson that circles the stillness of a woman in death, pressing the reader to confront what labour and suffering have left behind. The speaker challenges us to lift her hair, move her fingers, unlock her sealed lips — tasks now impossible. Flies buzz, sunlight streams through a dirty pane, and cobwebs drift undisturbed, painting a domestic scene where the world carries on, indifferent to the woman who once kept it in order.",
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    "Buzz the dull flies on the chamber window; Brave shines the sun through the freckled pane; Fearless the cobweb swings from the ceiling— Indolent housewife, in daisies lain!",
    "Emily Dickinson was a 19th-century American poet whose work remained largely unpublished during her lifetime, yet she is now considered one of the most original voices in the English language. Known for her slant rhyme, compressed imagery, and unflinching engagement with mortality, Dickinson brings all three qualities to bear in this poem, where the domestic details of thimbles and cobwebs become quietly devastating."
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