Emily Dickinson Lexicon

he (-'d, -'ll, -'s), pron. [OE he- < Germanic; third person singular masculine nominative pronoun; see also him, himself, his.] (webplay: God, human, human race, man, mankind, person, pronoun, spirit).

1. [Anaphoric reference to a man who is named in the text; a specific male individual; gentleman having a proper name; famous or unknown man.]
2. [Exophoric reference to a man who is not named in the text; one of many possible male individuals; specific or general member of a group of male persons characterized by a vocation, such as soldier.]
3. [Cataphoric reference to a man who is named in the text; in 85/87 “he” refers forward to “Jesus”.]
4. [Anaphoric reference to a Deity who is named in the text; refers to God the Father, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Ghost; often capitalized.]
5. [Anaphoric reference to inanimate objects of nature; personification of naturally existing elements] it.
6. [Anaphoric reference to animate objects of nature; personification of naturally existing entities, such as animals or plants] it.
7. [Anaphoric reference to heavenly bodies; personification of the sun, its phases, etc.] it.
8. [Anaphoric reference to humankind in general; one or more members of the human race.]
9. [Anaphoric generic pronoun reference to one's soul, self, being, person] it.
10. [Anaphoric reference to personified abstract qualities, emotions, ideas, concepts, states of being] it.
11. [Exophoric reference to a man who is not named in the text; one of many possible male individuals; antecedent of the pronoun is unknown.]
12. [Anaphoric reference to a bird or a species of bird; personification of a flying creature] it.