Emily Dickinson

Abraham to kill him—

Summary


"Abraham to kill him—" is a short poem that retells the biblical sacrifice of Isaac with dry, startling wit. An aged Abraham is told to kill his son, the boy an "Urchin," and he complies without a flicker of hesitation. Dickinson's clipped dashes turn obedience into a question of flattery and tyranny. The final stanza adds a sly moral about a mastiff and manners, leaving readers to decide how seriously to take the lesson.

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Abraham to kill him—
Was distinctly told—
Isaac was an Urchin—
Abraham was old—

Ink-and-wash scene for Emily Dickinson's "Abraham to kill him—": an old man and a boy beside a stone altar.

Not a hesitation—
Abraham complied—
Flattered by Obeisance
Tyranny demurred—

Isaac—to his children
Lived to tell the tale—
Moral—with a Mastiff
Manners may prevail.

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Credits

Emily Dickinson was a 19th-century American poet from Amherst, Massachusetts, famed for her compressed, dash-filled verse. Here she turns the Genesis story of Abraham and Isaac into a mischievous, irreverent quip, showing the wry humor that ran through her private writing.