POET :

I DIED FOR BEAUTY , BUT WAS SCARCE

BY : EMILY DICKINSON

I died for Beauty - but was scarce

Adjusted in the Tomb
When One who died for Truth, was lain
In an adjoining Room -

He questioned softly why I failed?

"For Beauty", I replied -
"And I - for Truth - Themself are One -
We Bretheren, are", He said -

And so, as Kinsmen, met a Night -

We talked between the Rooms -
Until the Moss had reached our lips -
And covered up - Our names -
What we could see from this poem at the first glance is, this poem tell us about two people who
died because “beauty” and “truth”. On the first line in this poem “I died for beauty – but was
scarce” sound ambiguous. The word “for” in the first sentence tell us about two different
meanings. First meaning is it tell us about the cause of the death and second meaning is to get or
to achieve something.

The conversation between two speaker in the second paragraph of the poem indicate an
important idea of this poem, that is the reason of both of the speaker death is for “beauty” and
“truth”.

He questioned softly why I failed?

"For Beauty", I replied -
"And I - for Truth - Themself are One -
We Bretheren, are", He said –

The idea is that beauty and truth became both of the speakers goal in experiencing death. In this
poem, Dickinson describes the connection between “beauty” and “truth” as the reason of both of
the speaker death. So we can conclude that the matrix of this poem is beauty and truth.

In the first paragraph of the poem we could see that Dickinson the author of this poem give a
description about the reason of one of the speaker death in “I died for beauty, but was scarce”.
She tell that the speaker death is different from an ordinary death of the common people.
Dickinson affirms that the speaker death as something precious. The word “beauty” in here is not
a ordinary beauty that we know it signify an eternal beauty which could not be reached by
people or human. The eternal beauty is more than what people or human see on their eyes. It was
higher than ordinary beauty. This is why Dickinson the author use the word “scarce” to affirm
the speaker statement in the first line of the poem paragraph. The word “Tomb” which is a
signifier is signifying about a place where people buried when they’re dead or where people
resting for the rest of they’re live.
In the second paragraph of the poetry. The author Dickinson try to lead reader mind to forget
about circumstance of death. Dickinson creates a scene of conversation between both of the
speaker. She use the word “failed” rather than died. The word “failed” become the subtitusion of
the word “died” which could help the reader to forget about the circumstances of death. The line
“He questioned softly why I failed?” is a signifier where it will make reader think about
someone asking about his or her failure in achieving something but the truth is it signified about
someone who asking the reason or the cause of his or her death. Also in this second paragraph
Dickinson states that “beauty” and ”truth” as “Themself as one” this line indicates that “beauty”
and “truth” are closely related. It also imply that “beauty” and “truth” could be seen as unity.
Also Dickinson the author of this poem use the word “brethren” on the last line of the second
paragraph and “kinsmen” on the first line of the third paragraph of the poem to describe the
connection between “beauty” and ”truth”. The line “Themself as one”, the word “brethren” and
“kinsmen” also refers to both of the speaker relation it could tell that both of the speaker is
closely related because they’re searching and die for the same thing which is “beauty” and
”truth”.

In this poem Dickinson describe the important of “beauty” and ”truth” which is human try to
search, live and die for them as we could see from both of the speaker cause of death which is
nonetheless their search for “beauty” and ”truth”.

So what we could see about this poem is that this poem could be seen as an irony because, many
people search, live and die for “beauty” and ”truth”. That if we could think carefully if someone
died for truth, it could mean that there’s no truth in human life. If there’s no truth in human life it
means that there’s no beauty which is created by human itself. So it means that something is
wrong is going on in human life.