I'm "wife" -- I've finished that

by Emily Dickinson

I'm "wife" -- I've finished that --
That other state --
I'm Czar -- I'm "Woman" now --
It's safer so --

How odd the Girl's life looks
Behind this soft Eclipse --
I think that Earth feels so
To folks in Heaven -- now --

This being comfort -- then
That other kind -- was pain --
But why compare?
I'm "Wife"! Stop there!

About this poem

Dickinson places the labels “wife” and “Woman” in quotation marks, making the speaker sound both newly defined and skeptical of the role she has entered.

What to notice

The first line is also the title, a common pattern in poems that were not titled by Dickinson herself.
Words such as “Czar” and “safer” make marriage sound like an increase in status while leaving its emotional cost unsettled.

Text and source

Rights: Public domain
Source: View original source

The poem is often searched without quotation marks or dashes; Dickinson's punctuation is preserved in the title and text shown here.

Also known as: I'm wife I've finished that

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About this poem

What to notice

Text and source

One poem today. Another tomorrow.

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