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Emily DickinsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The presence of “see” (Line 2) and “Microscopes” (Line 3) centers the poem on the theme of sight. The poem contrasts two different types of visions. The first is “Faith” (Line 1), which links to an intangible, spiritual sight. The second is “Microscopes,” which relates to a scientific and quantifiable sight. To test their hypothesis, a scientist doesn’t rely on their faith but firm evidence, and a microscope often helps them gather the applicable concrete data. Meanwhile, someone with faith doesn’t need a microscope since what powers their beliefs isn’t material but immaterial or an unquantifiable, spiritual intuition. As the poem brings together these two seemingly opposite kinds of sights, the theme of sight carries quite a bit of tension.
The antagonism starts in the first sentence: “‘Faith’ is a fine invention / For Gentlemen who see!” (Lines 1-2). The speaker calls faith an “invention,” which twists the juxtaposition. Like the microscope, people invented faith, so both are a product of the human mind. Yet there’s still a sharp difference between faith and microscopes since the former is for people “who see!” (Line 2) and the latter is “prudent / In an Emergency!” (Lines 3-4). The speaker challenges the idea of faith while upholding its value.
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird Came Down the Walk: Selected Bird Poems of Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson, Ernest Seton Thompson
A Clock stopped—
Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
Emily Dickinson
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Emily Dickinson
Hope is a strange invention
Emily Dickinson
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
Emily Dickinson
I Can Wade Grief
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
Emily Dickinson
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I should die
Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the fall
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Emily Dickinson, Rex Schneider
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Emily Dickinson
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson
There is no Frigate like a Book
Emily Dickinson