"Her little Parasol to lift"

By Emily Dickinson
[Analysis]
Her little Parasol to lift [1]
And once to let it down [2]
Her whole Responsibility -- [3]
To imitate be Mine. [4]
A Summer further I must wear, [5]
Content if Nature's Drawer [6]
Present me from sepulchral Crease [7]
As blemishless, as Her. [8]
Poem 1038 [F987]
"Her little Parasol to lift"
Analysis by David Preest
[Poem]
This poem accompanied the gift of a 'morning glory' flower. As this flower opens out in the morning and fades and closes in the
afternoon, Emily can describe it as lifting its Parasol open and then letting it down closed.
Emily, imitating the flower, has to live out the summer of the rest of her life, but she will be content if then, when she emerges from the
'Nature's Drawer' which is her grave and opens in heaven, she is as 'blemishless' and uncreased as the flower of the morning glory when it
opens.
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