There's Been A Death in The Opposite House, Emily Dickinson

THERE’S been a death in the opposite house
As lately as to-day.
I know it by the numb look
Such houses have alway.
The neighbors rustle in and out,	5
The doctor drives away.
A window opens like a pod,
Abrupt, mechanically;
Somebody flings a mattress out,—
The children hurry by;	10
They wonder if It died on that,—
I used to when a boy.
The minister goes stiffly in
As if the house were his,
And he owned all the mourners now,	15
And little boys besides;
And then the milliner, and the man
Of the appalling trade,
To take the measure of the house.
There ’ll be that dark parade	20
Of tassels and of coaches soon;
It ’s easy as a sign,—
The intuition of the news
In just a country town.

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About the poet

Emily Dickinson (10 December, 1930 : Amherst, Massachusetts)

She produced the most and best of her poems during the Civil War.

She wrote a total of 1775 poems and her poems revealed "an immense breadth of vision and a passionate intensity and awe for life, love, nature, time and eternity". 

Vocabulary

numb : shock look

pod : 

mourners : 

milliner : 

man of appalling trade : 

tassels :

intuition :

Interpretation

Stanza 1

Stanza 2

Stanza 3

Stanza 4

Stanza 5

Stanza 6

Messages

- Death is part of life

- People are afraid to face death

Poetic Devices

Similes
A window opens like a pod,

Abrupt, mechanically

When we open a pod, it is done without feeling or emotion. The window is opened the same way.

It's easy as a sign

Death is easy to spot because of the preparations being made for the funeral.

Symbols

Of tassels and of coaches soon

Tassels are the decorations on the coach, which was used to carry the coffin and lead the black parade.