A Toad, can die of Light –

A Toad, can die of Light –
Death is the Common Right
Of Toads and Men –
Of Earl and Midge
The privilege –
Why swagger, then?
The Gnat's supremacy is large as Thine –


Life – is a different Thing –
So measure Wine –
Naked of Flask – Naked of Cask –
Bare Rhine –
Which Ruby’s mine?
                                                              F419 (1862)  J64


Why should an Earl swagger in pride when he will meet the same fate as a toad or a gnat? They all will die, and “Death is the Common Right” – not a privilege. That’s the point Dickinson is making in the first stanza of this little poem. What puzzles me is the first line. Can toads die of light? They are nocturnal and live in damp hiding places, so maybe so. But I doubt that Dickinson would toss out the word “light” lightly. I suspect she means that the creepy crawly toad who can’t stand the light of day has the same right of death as any nobleman.

An earl in its own right

         The second stanza directs our attention to life. It’s not death that reveals your quality – for every living thing must die – but rather how you live your life. Dickinson uses wine as a metaphor: Take away the fancy bottle or flask, take away the fancy French oak cask, and how good is your wine? How good is mine, she asks in the last line. Am I a cheap ruby red? Or maybe a clear and easy-to-drink claret? I suspect Dickinson would be a dry, dark red Bordeaux.

Rhyme scheme: AABCCBD  EDFDD. That “F” rhyme, however, is an internal rhyme: “Flask” goes with “Cask” quite neatly. Another good rhyme: Midge and privilege.