IT was too late for man,
But early yet for God;
Creation impotent to help,
But prayer remained our side.
How excellent the heaven,
When earth cannot be had;
How hospitable, then, the face
Of our old neighbor, God!
It was too late for man
Summary
"It was too late for man" is a short poem by Emily Dickinson that you can read online in about a minute. In two compact stanzas, a speaker faces a moment when human help has failed and creation itself is powerless. Prayer is all that remains. The mood shifts from desperate hush to surprising warmth as heaven is imagined as a refuge, and God becomes a hospitable old neighbor. Quiet, intimate, and startling in its familiarity, the poem rewards slow rereading.
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