There is no harm in checking things out by doing some wordsubstitution, but if a conclusive result involves leaving no stone unturned, the deployment of logic is the more practical option. And because all the necessary information is by now provided for, deploying logic also is the only way to get Dickinson’s message. With the right starting point, you will surely manage :
if ‘Oh’ = the key to correct interpretation
and ‘Oh’ = the key to turn down a metaphor of death
then ‘Oh’ = the key to turn Death himself into a metaphor
Death is quite common as love’s metaphor, and under such an elaborate cover it has to be the love song’s one and only linchpin metaphor. No question about it. But it still covers something up, and Dickinson’s comma is the key to find out that
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You can’t be much wrong. Provided that you haven’t been tempted into explaining the second line’s (in)consistent grammar away as a cosmetic necessity. That would have got you on the wrong foot from the start. And if you have thus been prevented from regarding ‘too tender’ with the appropriate distrust, give it another try. If necessary by rewriting each single line in the light of that sneaky detail :
– Let down the Bars, Oh Death : …………………………………………………………………………….
– The tired flocks come in : …………………………………………………………………………….
– Whose … repeat : …………………………………………………………………………….
– Whose wandering is done : ……………………………………………………………………………
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– Thine is the stillest night : …………………………………………………………………………….
– Thine the securest Fold : …………………………………………………………………………….
– Too near … seeking Thee : …………………………………………………………………………….
– Too tender, to be told : …………………………………………………………………………….
Only when you have abandoned all hope to advance without a guide, time has come to consider the discovery route alongside these dotted lines. In case you have cracked the riddle, this route is as interesting as the solution of last week’s crosswords in today’s newspaper. Therefore follow the arrows of preference :
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