Nature rarer uses Yellow
Nature rarer uses Yellow Than another Hue – Saves she all of that for Sunsets – Prodigal of Blue Spending Scarlet, like a Woman Yellow she affords Only scantly and selectly Like a Lover's Words – 1086 (1865) In this seemingly simple poem, Emily Dickinson is able to capture a deeper understanding of nature’s ways. She opens with the pretty direct statement that yellow is the rarest color in nature. She continues on to explain that its saved to use only for sunsets, unlike blue which she says nature overuses. Yellow is a color that nature thoughtfully selects to use for very specific purposes, comparing it to the perfectly chosen words of a lover. I find the emphasis on yellow sunsets in this poem really interesting. It seems like the common understanding of a beautiful sunset is one with a variety of colors: red, orange, purple, blue, pink. Yet Dickinson asserts that it is really just a simple yellow sunset that is the most rare and thoughtful and should therefore b...
