Summary

As Stein uses a stream of consciousness style to depict the continuous experience of life, "Sacred Emily" purposely lacks a narrative through line. The following summary instead notes repetitions and thematic possibilities in the poem.

Domesticity and poetic creation appear in lines such as the first, which reads, "Compose compose beds." The speaker states that "Wives of great men rest tranquil," and proceeds to sonically evoke a busy domestic environment (2). Commands, locations, questions, responses, repetitions, and word play randomly occur. The sounds of the words play an important role, and the same word may be repeated once or multiple times to suggest new meanings. This is seen in lines such as "Murmur pet murmur pet murmur. / Push sea push sea push sea push sea push sea push sea push sea push sea" (18-19).

Different food items appear throughout the poem, including eggs, nuts, ice-cream...