"As imperceptibly as Grief" is a poem by Emily Dickinson about the end of summer, the subtlety of the passage of time, and the loss that these changes create. It was written in 1865 and published in 1891. The poem deals with many of Dickinson's recurring themes, most notably mortality and nature. Dickinson was one of the most influential American poets of her generation. However, in her own lifetime, her work was barely known, save for a few poems that appeared under anonymous bylines. After her death in 1886, a large collection of her work was discovered by her sister Lavinia and subsequently published to great acclaim. This poem, written slightly later than her better-known work from 1860-61, reframes Dickinson's ideas under a notably different structure. It contains only one long, unbroken stanza of sixteen lines. It also features many hallmarks of her style: unconventional capitalization, dashes, and slant rhyme.
The poem is on the more abstract side. Dickinson compares the passing of grief to the subtle fading of summer. She then brings up different times of the day, referring to the relative quiet of twilight and afternoon. Following this, she describes the liminal periods of dusk and sunrise, portraying the summer warmth and sunshine as a graceful and desired guest about to make her departure. Throughout the text, Dickinson is exploring an idea of summer's transience as a way to understand the passing of days, seasons, and lifetimes. It is an unusual poem in that Dickinson rarely delves into specific scenes, but focuses more generally on images of different times of day. Her typical stylistic traits work well in this regard, as they magnify and elucidate these images, giving them the conceptual significance that Dickinson is trying to convey. Here, the reader finds that no sunrise or sunset is without a greater meaning.
