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The Morning after Death. Is solemnest of industries. Enacted opon Earth –. The Sweeping up the Heart. And putting Love away. We shall not want to use again. Until Eternity –. Notes: The Poetry Foundation often receives questions about Emily Dickinson's poems. Read a note from the digital archive editor about Dickinson's "errors."
Bustle in a house Lyrics. The bustle in a house. The morning after death. Is solemnest of industries. Enacted upon earth. The sweeping up the heart. And putting love away. We shall not want...
‘The Bustle in a House’ by Emily Dickinson is a short poem about the effects of death. It describes the “bustle” in a home the morning after an important loss.
The bustle in a house The morning after death Is solemnest of industries Enacted upon earth,– The sweeping up the heart, And putting love away We shall not want to use again Until eternity.
On the morning after a loved one has died, the house of the deceased is full of so much activity that it forms a surprising contrast to the lifeless corpse that would have been laid out in the parlor or elsewhere in the home in Dickinson’s day.
Analysis (ai): This poem explores the aftermath of death, capturing the bustling activity in a home as the living process the loss. The solemn tasks of tidying and removal symbolize the emotional and practical preparations for mourning, as the survivors grapple with the absence of their loved one.
The poem describes the hectic work that follows the death of a loved one (arranging the funeral, organizing the deceased's possessions, and so forth), hinting that all this activity might, in part, be a coping mechanism for grief.