A Man May Make a Remark
poem 952
power
transformation
lyric poem
austere
A Man may make a Remark In itself a quiet thing That may furnish the Fuse unto a Spark In dormant nature lain Let us deport with skill Let us discourse with care Powder exists in Charcoal Before it exists in Fire.
A Man May Make a Remark - context Summary
Composed 1864, Published 1914
Written in 1864 and first published posthumously in 1914 in the collection The Single Hound, this short lyric uses a concise causal image: a spoken remark can be the small provocation that ignites dormant potential. Dickinson frames speech as a careful act with moral and physical consequences, likening latent energy to "powder" already present in charcoal. The poem registers a wary awareness of words as catalysts and recommends measured deportment and discourse to avoid unintended ignition.
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