Paired Texts > Her sweet Weight on my Heart a Night

by Emily Dickinson 1862

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

Dreams
Dreams
Linda Pastan

In Linda Pastan's "Dreams," the speaker uses figurative language to discuss dreams.

Pair “Dreams” with “Her sweet Weight on my Heart a Night” and ask students to discuss the similar themes present in each poem. How are the depictions of dreams in both poems similar? Are there any distinctions? How are the speakers impacted by the absence of their lovers?

12th Grade Poem
A Litany for Survival
A Litany for Survival
Audre Lorde

In "A Litany for Survival," a speaker describes people who do not have the luxury to dream.

Pair “A Litany for Survival” with “Her sweet Weight on my Heart a Night” and ask students to discuss themes present in each poem. Do students think the speakers have similar experiences? Why or why not? Ask students to discuss if the speaker in “Her sweet Weight on my Heart a Night” also lives on the shoreline like the speaker in “A Litany for Survival.”

9th Grade Poem
Freud's Theory of the Id, Ego, and Superego
Freud's Theory of the Id, Ego, and Superego
CommonLit Staff

The famous psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the father of psychotherapy, is credited with the development of the idea of the subconscious: the deepest layer of the human mind, said to be the place where memories, wishes, fears, and dreams are stored. This famous theory, as explored in this text, posits that humans are controlled by their unconscious mind.

Pair “Freud’s Theory of the Id, Ego, and Superego” with “Her sweet Weight on my Heart a Night” and ask students to discuss what they think is happening in the speaker’s unconscious mind during the dream. Do students think the speaker experiences id, ego, superego, or a combination in the poem? Why? Could the speaker be experiencing a conflict between id, ego, superego? Why or why not?

10th Grade Psychology 1300L