Conventionally, Emily Dickenson’s poem [The Heart Asks Pleasure-First] has been read in the context of being between a lover and the beloved. The misplaced love is continually rejected, and after a series of wishes, the heart eventually wishes for the privilege to die. While this may have been the intended interpretation for the poem, a further investigation promotes a new idea. Perhaps Dickenson was not writing about the heart as the essence of love, but rather, the heart as the essence of a human soul. This love that the heart is drawn to could still be that of another. Therefore, it can be interpreted that Emily Dickinson’s poem [The Heart Asks Pleasure-First] is about relationships, and how a seemingly good love can become a terrible thing. More abstractly, this poem can warn others of the dangers of abusive relationships. Ultimately, the heart is asking for …show more content…
Rather than ask for the ability to cope, or for a lesser load, they meekly ask to go to sleep. The heart wishes to disconnect from reality so that it has no burden to bear at all, whether that be good or bad. It wishes to disassociate from its surroundings and to forget that there is any pain. The heart is so traumatized from continual rejection that it begs the puppet master for the opportunity to avoid their problems even if only for a few hours. This is where the striking revelation appears. Whilst this could be a tale of a deity and a follower, or of unrequited love, the request for something as natural as sleeping seems ludicrous. This poor soul is isolated from others with only the ‘lover’ to interact with, and they grow more and more desperate to the point of asking for what should be given regardless. In whichever interpretation the topic appears to be love, but this moment would suggest a twisting of that love. A cruel display of one in power, and one grappling at their feet. This is the moment in which it becomes a tale of