To know just how he suffered

Summary


"To know just how he suffered" is a short poem by Emily Dickinson that circles one aching question: what was it like to die? The speaker imagines a stranger's last hour and asks whether he was patient or afraid, whether the sunshine faced his way, and which name he spoke last. Each question is quiet and unanswerable, and each deepens the mood of tender longing. The poem builds toward a final image of love meeting eternity.

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TO know just how he suffered would be dear;
To know if any human eyes were near
To whom he could intrust his wavering gaze,
Until it settled firm on Paradise.

To know if he was patient, part content,
Was dying as he thought, or different;
Was it a pleasant day to die,
And did the sunshine face his way?

What was his furthest mind, of home, of God,
Or what the distant say
At news that he ceased human nature
On such a day?

And wishes, had he any?
Just his sigh, accented,
Had been legible to me.
And was he confident until
Ill fluttered out in everlasting well?

And if he spoke, what name was best,
What first,
What one broke off with
At the drowsiest?

Was he afraid, or tranquil?
Might he know
How conscious consciousness could grow,
Till love that was, and love too blest to be,
Meet—and the junction be Eternity?


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Credits

Emily Dickinson was a reclusive nineteenth-century American poet, known for her short, dash-filled lyrics on death, faith and immortality. This poem was published only after her death, like nearly all of her work, and it shows her habit of questioning the moment of dying rather than answering it.