Emily Dickinson

A Dimple in the Tomb

Summary


"A Dimple in the Tomb" is a poem by Emily Dickinson that fits an entire meditation on death into just nine words. A single small, tender mark, a dimple, enters a cold and ferocious space and changes what it means. The poem sets the harshness of the grave against the warmth of belonging, leaving readers to wonder who that dimple belonged to and how such a small detail can turn fear into something close to comfort.

Read Online

A Dimple in the Tomb
Makes that ferocious Room
A Home—

Woman in white touches a small dimple in a stone tomb lit by warm light, illustrating Emily Dickinson's A Dimple in the Tomb
Add Ririro as a Preferred Source on Google
Related tags
, , , , , ,

Credits

Emily Dickinson was a 19th-century American poet from Amherst, Massachusetts, famed for her compact, dash-filled verse about death, love and the inner life. This poem shows her signature economy, as a two-line stanza that gives the tomb a startling domestic warmth.