"There Is Another Sky" by Emily Dickinson

There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;

Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields -
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;

Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;

In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!

How did you like the poem? Quite interesting right? You will notice a lot of figurative language being used in this poem. I shall attempt to analyse this poem with as much depth as I can mange without drowning.

Stanza 1
"There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;"

To me, this stanza tells of another life, beyond our own. You can see that because firstly, life is the fairest thing on this earth, and any other. Second, when someone dies, they are referred to as having "passed into the void", or, "passed into the darkness beyond". This stanza is trying to tell us that there is indeed such a thing called rebirth, and that life will always exist somewhere in the universe, even if there is no more on Earth.

Stanza 2
"Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields -
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;"

Stanza 2 is basically trying to tell us the same thing as Stanza 1, but in a different way. It also tells us to always hope, because even if you throw water onto a fire and extinguish it, a spark will always remain until it burns itself to extinction. Therefore, as long as you hope, nothing is impossible. In addition, this stanza also advises us to look forward to the bright furture, and not look at the unpleasant past.

Stanza 3
"Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;"

Stanza 3 depicts a better world out there somewhere. As God first made a garden (of Eden) for the first humans Adam and later Eve, it seems that this stanza is trying to say that there is a new world out there, yet untouched by the vices of man.

Stanza 4
"In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!"

Stanza 4 shows the scene inside the aforementioned garden. The garden seems like a paradise; it has flowers, bright bees humming. The writer is trying to save her brother from the evils of the world by drawing him into the protected paradise, safe from the world, and its corruption, beyond.

Why I like this Poem
I like this poem because Emily [the writer] uses figurative speech to write it, and also uses "smooth" words often. "Smooth" words are words that we have been taught to associate with certain things (bright sunshine, serene sky, etc.). This draws a picture in our minds and makes us feel relaxed as we picture the peaceful scene. At the same time, this poem gives us hope that there is indeed a safe little bubble where we can be away from our troubles, and that we can always start anew.