The tough thing is that the majority will "prevail" or win. What can any minority do against a huge number of people who're convinced they know better? Line 6 Assent—and you are sane— This line is really straightforward. You'll find no hidden meaning buried in the bowels of cryptic poeticism here. Nobody needs a guide to figure this one out.
So the speaker is saying that those who say "yes" to the status quo are dubbed sane. Notice "and you are sane" is separated by dashes, punctuating the straight forwardness of the line. The speaker isn't mincing words. The connotations of "demur" are kind of soft. In other words, the rebels the speaker is describing are more likely to start a petition than a throw a brick through a window.
This makes it even crazier that these types get labeled as "dangerous. The alliteration of the repeated D sound in "demur" and "dangerous" helps to hammer home the contrast here. Also, notice the word "straightway," which is an old-school version of "straightaway. One little objection and they straightway send dudes with straightjackets to your house.
Line 8 And handled with a Chain — So not only are people who march to their own beat labeled dangerous, they're also put in chains. Man, that is harsh. Notice that we've got "Chain" with a capital C here, which emphasizes the severity of it all.
If we want to interpret this line kind of literally, we say that it references the way people who were considered insane were locked up in loony bins. The word "Chain" also reminds us of slavery, though, which was a hot topic when Dickinson was writing and by "hot topic" we mean that it was hurtling the country to an awful, bloody war.
Making an allusion to slavery would definitely make sense in this poem. How so? She was born in , the middle child of Edward Dickinson, a prominent lawyer who was active in civic affairs, and who also had a reputation as a dictatorial husband and a tyrannical father.
Dickinson once wrote that when her father spoke, her mother, "Trembled, obeyed, and was silent. She did not adjust to the strict religious atmosphere and returned home within the year. Nonetheless, it is believed that Dickinson kept in contact through letters with a circle of friends and extended family. We grow accustomed to the Dark. Wild nights - Wild nights! LitCharts Teacher Editions.
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