In Winter in My Room
poem 1670
In Winter in my Room I came upon a Worm Pink, lank and warm But as he was a worm And worms presume Not quite with him at home Secured him by a string To something neighboring And went along. A Trifle afterward A thing occurred I’d not believe it if I heard But state with creeping blood A snake with mottles rare Surveyed my chamber floor In feature as the worm before But ringed with power The very string with which I tied him too When he was mean and new That string was there I shrank How fair you are! Propitiation’s claw Afraid, he hissed Of me? No cordiality He fathomed me Then to a Rhythm Slim Secreted in his Form As Patterns swim Projected him. That time I flew Both eyes his way Lest he pursue Nor ever ceased to run Till in a distant Town Towns on from mine I set me down This was a dream.
In Winter in My Room - meaning Summary
Metamorphosis and Fear
The poem narrates a brief, uncanny encounter in which the speaker finds a harmless worm in her room, secures it, and later perceives a snake bearing the same string. The transformation unsettles her, provoking fear and flight across towns until she realizes it was a dream. Dickinson explores sudden metamorphosis, the porous boundary between domestic safety and wildness, and how imagination amplifies ordinary natural details into menace.
Read Complete Analyses
Feel free to be first to leave comment.