The word “swarthy” stood out to me when reading the first version of Dickinson’s poem, because it symbolizes the tainting of the golden, beautiful sunset Dickinson opened with, and conjured an image of dropping black ink into water in my mind. This word completely changes the tone of the poem, as it becomes clearer that she is describing something darker. The sunset, which initially reveals something to us, also by dual nature, conceals or obstructs what we see, which is why it is later described as “swarthy gold”.