What does purple mean (represent) in Emily Dickinson's poem "A slash of blue"?What does purple symbolize in this poem? Why does she uses the color...

Emily Dickinson refers to the color purple in many of her
poems ("There is a flower that bees prefer", "Wait Till the Majesty of Death", and "We
like March", and "It will be
Summer--Eventually").

Typically her use of the color purple
lends itself to aspects of nature which many of her poems revolved around.  Many times
the color purple was the only color used in the poem. The poem "A slash of blue" is very
different in this aspect; purple is not the only color used in the
poem.

The poem is speaking to Dickinson's appreciation of
the morning sky. For Dickinson, the morning sky is a painter's canvas. The colors which
are used to depict the morning sky are blue, gray, scarlet, purple, ruby and
gold.

For one to understand the use of the color purple in
the poem, one must look at the meaning of the color
purple.

Purple
is the color of good judgment. It is the color of people seeking spiritual fulfillment.
It is said if you surround yourself with purple you will have peace of mind. Purple is a
good color to use in
meditation.

The relevance of
this definition is that Dickinson seems to be in search of piece of mind and meditating
as the sun enters the sky creating a mixture of many different
colors.