A Long, Long Sleep by Emily Dickinson Poem Analysis Essay Example

Emily Dickinson’s 139th poem, CXXXIX, is a love letter to death itself- a story of longing to be at rest, disguised as a longing for sleep. Poem’s often take on romantic notions, as the way the poet writes flows in a gentle, romantic way, no matter what the real meaning of the poem is. Love is not the only thing that can be longed for in life, and Dickinson displays that often in her poems, but this one especially. The question that arises, is why disguise a longing for death as a longing for sleep? 

Dickinson doesn’t hide away from her desires in this poem. She begins by saying “A LONG, long sleep, a famous sleep,” immediately beginning her poem with positive connotations. The rest of the poem is much of the same, with sentences like, “To bask the centuries away,” or “Was there ever idleness like this,” that display what seems like contentment. Therefore Dickinson isn’t afraid of death, she welcomes it with open arms, she anticipates it. That is essential to understanding what the poem is about. She longs for death, and that is why the poem is a love story.

Longing is the poem’s theme. Without her longing, it would be a depressing poem that seems like a suicide note rather than a love letter. The way Dickinson articulates her fascination with death makes it seem like they are old friends, as if she is simply returning home and not dying. Moreover, the familiarity she displays with this longing would have a reader assume that this is a feeling she has had her entire life. However, Dickinson makes no reference to religion or to heaven. This could mean her fascination with death relates to a fascination with the unknown. The last two lines of the first stanza say, “By stretch of limb or stir of lid - an independent one.” Her longing for independence could also be why she longs to have her “famous sleep.” 

The meaning of the poem is nearly surface level, as it becomes clear that she is talking about death and not a “long sleep.” Lines like “Within a hut of stone - To bask the centuries away” and “A LONG, long, famous sleep - that makes no show for dawn” make it clear that Dickinson doesn’t plan to ever wake up from this “sleep.” The question the reader is left with is ‘why does she use sleep as the metaphor?’ It is because sleep is the closest thing to death that we, as living human beings, can comprehend. When you sleep you are living, but you are in a state of rest. When you die you are no longer living, and therefore similarly in a (albeit more permanent) state of rest. 

To Dickinson, dying can feel like loving, and one can long for both in the same way. Love and death can both be written about in romantic ways, as they both strike deep emotion, and they share more similarities than one could ever imagine. Dickinson intended for this poem not to strike fear in the heart whenever contemplating dying, but to strike excitement, to strike peace.  In the end, how truly different are love and death?