"Not to discover weakness is"

By Emily Dickinson
[Analysis]
Not to discover weakness is [1]
The Artifice of strength -- [2]
Impregnability inheres [3]
As much through Consciousness [4]
Of faith of others in itself [5]
As Pyramidal Nerve [6]
Behind the most unconscious clock [7]
What skilful Pointers move -- [8]
Poem 1054 [F1011]
"Not to discover weakness is"
Analysis by David Preest
[Poem]
Strength may come as much from our ignorance of our weakness and our knowledge that others have faith in us as from our own
'Pyramidal Nerve.' After all a clock face, even of the highest class, is quite unconscious of the complexity and anxiety of its inner workings.
In lines 7-8 'consummate' is a variant reading for 'unconscious,' and 'anxious' for 'skilful.'
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