"Nature rarer uses Yellow"

By Emily Dickinson
[Analysis]
Nature rarer uses Yellow [1]
Than another Hue. [2]
Saves she all of that for Sunsets [3]
Prodigal of Blue [4]
Spending Scarlet, like a Woman [5]
Yellow she affords [6]
Only scantly and selectly [7]
Like a Lover's Words. [8]
Poem 1045 [F1086]
"Nature rarer uses Yellow"
Analysis by David Preest
[Poem]
Richard Sewall remarks how in Emily's poems 'The familiar, in one or two deft strokes, is shown in odd and revealing light, as in this bit
about the colour Yellow. "Selectly," of course, is the magic word that tops this tiny "stairway of surprise."
Emily also reveals a truth about ourselves, for how few can manage anything more than some scanty select words to those we love.
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