I Died for Beauty

What notions of belonging are explored in the poem? How are they conveyed?

True belonging comes from shared values
Although many claim to belong, in order to truly belong, one must not feel the need to compromise their values. In the poem, we can see that the man and the woman share the commonality of having died for similar causes – the woman for beauty and the man for truth. This is depicted through the yearning tone of the line “We bretheren are”, which suggests a longing by the man to belong to another who has also sacrificed themselves for their values. Although both refuse to compromise their values, it is this very reason that they ultimately find each other and develop a relationship providing them with a sense of belonging.

? Belonging involves some degree of a loss of identity ?
In the second stanza of the poem, it is clear that both the man and the woman feel a sense of belonging, however this is gradually cut short in the last stanza, where both are finally silenced. Dickinson’s reference to nature in the line “Until the moss had reached our lips/And covered up our names” suggests that just like the inevitable nature of the growth of moss has covered their tombstones, the perceived sense of belonging has inevitably led to a loss of their identity.