What is the meaning of "There Is Another Sky" by Emily Dickinson?


Quick Answer

Emily Dickinson’s poem “There Is Another Sky” is a reflection on how a spiritual paradise supersedes the fading nature of Earth. However, Dickinson leaves it slightly ambiguous as to what exactly this inner utopia represents; she never names it outright as “heaven”. Still, she shows that hope in something greater is strong enough to render the brokenness of the physical world unimportant.

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Full Answer

It becomes obvious by the third and fourth lines that the paradise the speaker is describing is not one that exists in the physical world. The paradox, “And there is another sunshine, / Though it be darkness there,” clearly cannot exist as a physical phenomenon. Other phrases used to describe this place include “ever green” and “unfading,” which echo Biblical descriptions of Eden and heaven. However, this is a place the speaker knows intimately; she calls it “my garden,” and she can even hear its bees buzzing. Because of this, it seems that what is most important to the speaker in this moment of reverie isn't the eternal paradise of heaven but the fact that she has faith in it here on Earth. She doesn't have to allow the disappointments of the lackluster physical world to affect her. Instead, she can believe in the promise of an afterlife where all the brokenness of her present life is rectified, where “There is another sky, / Ever serene and fair."

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