There Is Another Sky

Poem: There is another sky by Emily Dickinson

There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields --
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!

* Theme: depression, death * Imagery: Visual imagery * Tone: dark *

She is inviting people into her "garden," perfectly. I think that the poem itself can be interpreted as a forest that is always green since when you write something down it's going to stay that way. However, I think that what Emily really tries to refer to is her soul of warmth and compassion which always wants to offer itself to those who are suffering. I think that this is the true forest that is never withered or cold because it's always there. Even with her dead, one gets a sense that if this type of compassion can exist from a person then at least someone at some point cared. Emily had a very special spirit in my opinion and a searingly powerful inner beauty - almost one that is so full of this inner radiance that it spills out for others as well. And the very act of trying to reach out to another and show him/her how deeply you care is enough to comfort a person and invite them into that warm acreage of soothing.

Austin is her brother. It is him she is talking to throughout the whole poem. Prithee means prey thee, so the line is 'prey thee, my brother, Into my garden come!' She is praying for her brohter to come in to her world of peace and tranquilty rather than stay in his dark