The Color of the Grave is Green by Emily Dickinson
The Color of the Grave is Green –
The Outer Grave — I mean –
You would not know it from the Field –
Except it own a Stone –
To help the fond — to find it –
Too infinite asleep
To stop and tell them where it is –
But just a Daisy — deep –
The Color of the Grave is white –
The outer Grave — I mean –
You would not know it from the Drifts –
In Winter — till the Sun –
Has furrowed out the Aisles –
Then — higher than the Land
The little Dwelling Houses rise
Where each — has left a friend –
The Color of the Grave within –
The Duplicate — I mean –
Not all the Snows could make it white –
Not all the Summers — Green –
You’ve seen the Color — maybe –
Upon a Bonnet bound –
When that you met it with before –
The Ferret — cannot find —
*If you could just give a short discription of what this poem might mean or knows what it means that would be greatly appreciated(:
In stanza one, Dickinson uses green to recall the life that once was. She then emphasizes that only the outside of the grave is lifelike, although a passerby would not recognize it for a grave except for the headstone.
Stanza two refers to fond as a noun, which means the ground itself, and how the great length of time the earth has been "asleep" would make it impossible to explain to the dirt where the inner grave is. Yet a simple daisy, with roots reaching down far enough, can know the grave’s location.
The third stanza is both a transition of seasons signifying the passage of time and the obliteration of all recognition until the sun appears again (Spring.)
Stanza four notes, through Dickinson’s keen observation, that the first areas of snow melted by Spring sunlight in a graveyard are the aisles between the rows of graves themselves, and the fact that the graves form mounds which the poet refers to as "little Dwelling Houses." Inside each house are the remains of one who once was someone’s friend.
Stanza five at last discusses the coffin, and how it rests so deep (six feet) beneath the surface, where it is green or white depending on the season, that neither color can reach it.
The final stanza is the most difficult, on several levels. First, as bonnets long ago passed out of fashion, most people today do not realize that they were stylish and made of many colors and fabrics, most often bright and happy. Second, the hue suggested by Emily Dickinson in the conclusion of this typical if brilliant and beautiful poem is earthen — the dark browns and grays and even moldy shades found six feet under where caskets lay, and on the clothing and bonnets of mourners. Third, the odd reference to the ferret, an animal known for digging, which even with its prowess cannot penetrate the depths of the grave.
Dickinson’s epitaph, by the way, is "Called Back."