Poetry: As Imperceptibly As Grief Flashcards
Whys: 1
Dickinson uses the poem as a cathartic means to process and express her overwhelming feelings
of loss and grief.
Whys: 2
Dickinson suggests that feelings of grief gradually soften and change over time, much like the
seasons inevitably lapse into one another
Whys: 3
Dickinson suggests that loss is an irrevocable part of the natural process of life and human
experience, over which we have no control.
Which themes are present in this poem?
Death and loss
Pain and suffering
Passage of time
Change and transformation
Which poems can be linked with this poem?
Excerpt from the prelude
To autumn
Afternoons
Death of a naturalist
Context point 1
Before she wrote this poem, several family members and friends died
Context point 2
Dickinson was recluse so did not leave the house often
What is the form like in the poem?
Mirrors the pattern of everyday speech
Long dashes rather than convectional punctuation
How can the form of the poem relate to the content of the poem?
The mirror of everyday speech makes it sounds like the narrators honest thoughts
Dashes create long pauses which enhance’s the poems slow, reflective mood
What is the structure like in the poem?
Series of natural metaphors - reveals speakers feelings about the way that grief fades away gradually
Single stanza adds to the sense of gradual change
What is the poem about?
The poem explores the gradual passing of summer, so gentle that it nearly goes unnoticed
What is the rhyming like in the poem?
Iambic meter
Ballad rhyme scheme - ABCB with SLANT rhymes
As imperceptibly as grief / The Summer lapsed away
Theme: Change, Loss, Time passing
Technique: Simile, Personification, Tone
Importance:
The simile compares the slow fading of summer to the subtle onset of grief, suggesting both are gradual and barely noticeable until they are gone.
Begins the poem with a reflective, melancholic tone.
Sets up the central metaphor of the poem—grief as a season.
Too imperceptible at last / To seem like Perfidy
Theme: Time, Trust, Acceptance of loss
Technique: Negation, Diction (“Perfidy” = betrayal)
Importance:
Suggests the passage of time (or the loss) was so gradual it didn’t feel like a betrayal.
Indicates acceptance, moving away from resentment or shock.
Shows how grief can become a natural part of life, rather than an act against us.
A Quietness distilled
Theme: Stillness, Grief, Silence
Technique: Metaphor, Personification
Importance:
Describes silence or peace as something that has been “distilled”, like a fine essence.
Highlights the delicate, almost sacred atmosphere that follows grief.
Suggests that grief transforms into a peaceful stillness over time
The Dusk drew earlier in
Theme: Decay, Nature, Death
Technique: Personification, Alliteration
Importance:
“Dusk” symbolizes the approach of death or the end of something.
Personifies nature as actively bringing in the dark—gives a sense of inevitability.
Reinforces the gradual change from life to death, or joy to grief.
The Morning foreign shone
Theme: Alienation, Change, Emotional disconnection
Technique: Juxtaposition, Oxymoron-like tone
Importance:
“Morning” typically symbolizes hope and renewal, but here it’s “foreign”—showing how healing or normality after grief can feel strange.
Conveys how grief can alter your perception, even of joyful things.
Our Summer made her light escape / Into the Beautiful
Theme: Hope, Transcendence, Letting go
Technique: Personification, Euphemism, Metaphor
Importance:
“Summer” is personified as a woman gently leaving—death or grief is portrayed as peaceful, not tragic.
“Into the Beautiful” is a euphemism for death, peace, or an afterlife, ending the poem with calm acceptance.
Leaves readers with a sense of closure and quiet beauty.
