Back to: Maharashtra Board Class 11th English Guide & Notes
Table of Contents
Introduction
“There is Another Sky” is a sonnet that illustrates the beauty of nature itself. The poem was written in conjunction with a letter the writer sent to her brother pleading him to come back home. She would give anything for him to come back.
The lines are short, only 3 to 5 metric feet, and with Dickinson’s characteristic slant rhyme, the rhyme scheme is rough, ABCBCDECFCGHIH. This innovative sonnet sections itself into two quatrains and a sestet, making it a gentle melding of the English and Italian sonnets.
Line 1-4
There is another sky, Ever serene and fair, And there is another sunshine, Though it be darkness there;
In the first four lines of ‘There is another sky,’ the speaker begins by making use of the line that later came to be used as the title. Dickinson’s poetry more often than not went without titles. They are usually known by the first line or by a number. The speaker suggests that there is “another sky” in addition to the sky that the listener is already familiar with. Under this sky, everything is serene and fair.
Another sunshine even though it’s darkness there. While it is not entirely clear at this point what these lines refer to, as the speaker progresses it becomes clear that she is describing her writing through an elaborate metaphysical conceit. While writing, she can create her world where everything stays as she originally depicted it and is not subject to the ravages of time.
Line 5-8
Never mind faded forests, Austin, Never mind silent fields - Here is a little forest, Whose leaf is ever green;
In the next four lines, she addresses her brother, Austin. She asks this man to ignore the faded forests and the silent fields of the physical world. Rather, he should come to the little forest that she has created under the new sky. There, the leaf is evergreen. This is an indication that life is endless in this other world, nothing can touch it. This is emphasized further in the next paragraph.
Line 9-14
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!
The speaker continues to describe her garden in these lines, she uses the word brighter to compare the world she has created to the one that everyone lives in physically. It is a place where there never has been, nor will there be a frost. This is an allusion to death, change, and anything negative that in the real world is a true risk.
The flowers are unfading they live forever without ever losing their beauty. There are other forms of life as well, such as the bright bee. These warm and bright images are concluded with the final couplet, or set of two lines at the end of a Shakespearean sonnet.
The poet asks her brother Austin and calls her by his nickname “Prithee”, to come to her garden. There he won’t have to be concerned with the dangers of the real world that is aging, or change.
Conclusion
The poem ends with “Into my garden come!” sending out an invitation to her brother and reminding him that their home will always be his home. However, the nature of the poem allows it to be interpreted in another manner where Emily is describing herself to her brother. But, regardless of interpretation, it is still an invitation sent to her brother, Austin, to come back home.