Each that we lose takes part of us;
A crescent still abides,
Which like the moon, some turbid night,
Is summoned by the tides.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Emily Dickinson's poem Each that we lose takes part of us;


  1. Mike Fan says:

    One of my all-time favourite poems by one of my all-time favourite poets! Speaks just so perfectly about loss and memory.

  2. Lauren says:

    That’s an interesting comment, Roy, but the truth of the matter is that Dickinson sent this poem in a letter to the Norcross sisters, thanking them for their sympathy note regarding the death of Dickinson’s friend Judge Lord. There are several relationships Dickinson maintained with others and the outside world that are apparent in this letter: her relationship with Judge Lord, with the Norcross sisters, and to her contemporary poets, as she paraphrases Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s work within it. When one knows the historical context of Dickinson’s poetry, that reader may better understand her writing and also leave behind the assumption that a poem must be straightforward, titled, and rigid in order to be “poetry” in the first place.

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