The central idea of Dickinson’s poem is that fame is transient, or fleeting. The initial comparison to “food” (Line 1) highlights how it is not permanent. Generally, food must be eaten before it spoils; it does not last past a certain date. Dickinson further describes the food as “fickle” (Line 1), which points to it being temperamental, or a food that can easily go bad and become inedible. Metaphorically, this suggests how the nature of fame is one that can quickly turn.

Dickinson develops this central theme by adding another adjective that indicates the fleeting nature of fame: “shifting” (Line 2). This describes the “plate” (Line 2) that the food is placed on; a moving plate could cause food to become inedible by causing it to fall to the ground. In other words, the plate could fall off the “table” mentioned in Line 3, effectively ruining a meal. Metaphorically, this applies to how fame is plated, or presented—for instance, the minds of literary critics could shift and cause a famous person to fall out of favor with the public.

The other fleeting element that Dickinson uses in the table-setting section of “Fame is a fickle food” is the number of times a meal is served.