So gay a Flower
So gay a Flower Bereaves the Mind As if it were a Woe -- Is Beauty an Affliction -- then? Tradition ought to know --
Emily Dickinson
So gay a Flower Bereaves the Mind As if it were a Woe -- Is Beauty an Affliction -- then? Tradition ought to know --
Imagine coming upon a flower so radiantly cheerful that it somehow unhinges you, leaving your mind as bereft as any deep grief. That’s the disquieting moment Emily Dickinson sketches in four brief lines. The speaker isn’t just admiring a blossom; she feels almost wounded by its gaiety.
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