...province, Emily Dickinson challenged the existing definitions of poetry and the poet’s work. Like writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman, she experimented with expression in order to free it from conventional restraints. Like writers such as Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, she crafted a new type of persona for the first person. The speakers in Dickinson’s poetry, like those in Brontë’s and Browning’s works, are sharp-sighted observers who see the inescapable limitations of their societies as well as their imagined and imaginable escapes. To make the abstract tangible, to define meaning without confining it, to inhabit a house that never became a prison, Dickinson created in her writing a distinctively elliptical language for expressing what was possible but not yet realized. Like the Concord Transcendentalists whose works she knew well, she saw poetry as a double-edged sword. While it liberated the individual, it as readily left him ungrounded. The literary marketplace, however, offered new ground for her work in the last decade of the nineteenth century. When the first volume of her poetry was published in 1890, four years after her death, it met with stunning success. Going through eleven editions in less than two years, the poems eventually extended far beyond their first household audiences. Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830 to Edward and Emily (Norcross) Dickinson. At the...
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...Sifts from Leaden Sieves” Thesis: A good example of themed poem is “It Sifts from Leaden Sieves”, written by Emily Dickinson, which has a theme hidden in many metaphors. In this poem, the theme is not explicit and is intertwined with several other minor ideas. I. The figurative language is strongly present in the “It Sifts from Leaden Sieves” poem, and it represents the strongest particularity. A. The poem is filled with metaphor, as most of the descriptions or nouns are this figurative language. 1. The theme of this work, which is snow, is only represented by metaphors, and is never mentioned directly. 2. The metaphors are present throughout the body of the poem, and can be found in every stanza. B. The metaphors point to some other topics related to the supposed narrator’s point of view in a very indirect way. 1. The poem can have multiple meanings for the reader depending on what the audience is looking for. 2. The double meanings of the metaphors work as a riddle. II. The theme of “It Sifts from Leaden Sieves” is the snow, but it also is ambiguous and can lead to different theme interpretations. A. The stanzas by themselves do not picture snow, but when they are put together in one poem they describe snow accurately. 1. The audience may not realize the theme is snow after reading the first time. 2. The snow is described by its effects or by comparison of its similarities with other things by the use of metaphor. B. The theme can be interpreted as a housewife...
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...late 1800’s there was a great legend made in the history of poetry. Emily Dickinson, a famous American Poet who resided in Amherst Massachusetts, was born to a successful family who was thought of highly by many members of the community. Although, her reluctance to meet and greet people and her reputation of keeping to herself, made people think of her as strange and anti-social. Dickinson studied at the Amherst Academy in Massachusetts. However, even though Dickinson did not have many relationships with friends or people, this did not stop her from making the best out of her career. As a private prolific poet, Dickson was blessed with great success dealing with her poetry. She has had about one thousand eight hundred of her poems published in her life time, including After great pain, a formal feeling comes, and I heard a Fly buzz-when I died-; two poems which Dickinson is popular for today. These two poems strongly illustrate a theme of death and dying, to assist the reader understand and analyze the depth of this theme; Dickinson uses strong symbolism, tone, and figurative language throughout her works. Dickinson’s symbolism throughout these two poems is strong and magnificent. In After great pain, a formal feeling comes the author uses many objects to symbolize feelings having to relate with the major theme of death and dying. “The nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs” (line 2). Dickinson uses the comparison of the nerves to tombs because the tombs symbolize death, as well...
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...came to mind while thinking over the words knowledge and individual power are what I penned down. The way toward individual power above one’s individual atmosphere is paved by the possession of knowledge. The ability for you to be a much sounder person and to be able to progress the surroundings for those that are around you. An ideology and the power is instilled in you that you will be confidently encouraged to feel and live better. Assistance in coming up with better choices and lead you in the direction of righteousness in your everyday life is received from knowledge and individual power. The readings that I selected were “Crazy Courage” by Alma Luz Villanueva, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, and “Much madness is divinest sense” by Emily Dickinson. I logged on to the internet upon completion...
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...“I’m Nobody! Who are you?” by Emily Dickinson Most people feel invisible at some point in their lives; whether it’s because they’re in the shadow of an older sibling, because they are shy, or simply because everyone around them has been busy, it doesn’t make much difference. It’s still a horrible thing to feel like no one even realizes you’re alive or that you’ve been doing things. Emily Dickinson felt this way often; she lived at home and didn’t leave the house much, mostly corresponding with people by letters. However, her invisibility didn’t bother her too much, and that is what this poem is all about. When you feel invisible, you aren’t alone, because someone else is feeling invisible too. Dickinson starts out the poem introducing herself, ”I’m Nobody! Who are you?” (1) Being nobody can mean a lot of things; it could mean she’s no one important, no one special, no one significant, or no one that everyone knows. However, she could also be nobody to many people simply because she doesn’t try to stand out or feel important. She is content just being herself, living her plain, simple life and doing things that make her happy. Being nobody makes her somewhat mysterious; she’s obviously a person, but most people don’t know who she really is. This also relates to the second line in the poem, “Are you – Nobody – too?” (2) Dickinson’s question of the reader seems to show tha t being nobody is something everyone feels at some point in their life. Dickinson calls herself nobody, knowing...
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...Comparison and Contrast Essay between two Poems of Emily Dickinson and Mary Oliver Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, or called Emily Dickinson for short (1830 – 1886) and Mary Oliver (1935), are the two poets who contributed great works of art to American society during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In spite of several characteristics that can be found in both Emily Dickinson and Mary Oliver poems, there are undeniably things that distinguish them from one another, although outside both are very famous poets of the poems that they wrote at that time, but actually inside, every poem that they bring the reader has a different meaning and quite deep in reader hearts. For example, as we read the poem “Alligator Poem” by Mary Oliver poem and the poem “A Bird Came down the Walk” by Emily Dickinson, we can clearly see that both poets have borrowed the images of the bird to express the deeply of each verse, and to add lively for their poem. This method is called personification, is one of the main methods by which the poet used to write a poem vividly. Although both poets use personification methods in both poems, such as borrowing the images of the bird to write a poem as an example, but actually the use of such methods have different deeply meaning in the two poems. And that is the topic I write this essay, what are the similarities and differences between how they use images of birds to express their verses? How they have been very successful in using the personification...
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...Still in the Gilded Age There are many things in life that appear attractive on the outside, but turn out to be quite the opposite on the inside. The forgotten fruit that was left to rot on the kitchen counter, the empty promises of a government body, the two-faced colleague at work… there are many of examples of beauty being only skin deep. Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” and Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” explores this theme of the gilded side of humanity. Roethke opens “My Papa’s Waltz” through the eyes of a small boy, lending an initial tone of naivety and innocence. This mood is reinforced through his use of rhyme scheme, which adds to the childish effect. However, this feeling is quickly subverted, as a more sinister interpretation can be seen midway through the poem. The boy describes, “The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle;/At every step you missed/My right ear scraped a buckle.” (9-13), leading the reader to question what the actual meaning behind this “waltz” is. The minor mentioning of the unhappy mother, as well as the phrase, “But I hung on like death:” (3) is suddenly relevant; it suggests that the father may be an abusive alcoholic, deviating from the prior assumption that he was simply a happy drunk spending time with his son. This shift in reader interpretation can also be attributed to Roethke’s unique word choice. Take for example the word “waltz,” which is used exclusively in the beginning and ending stanzas...
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...setting for a writer? Emily Dickinson seemed to think so as it is well known that she spent much of her life in isolation from society. In her poem “I dwell in Possibility” a comparison is made between the house of poetry and the house of prose with favor towards the house of poetry. However, this comparison goes much deeper. The house of poetry actually represents Emily Dickinson’s way of life in isolation, and the house of prose represents a life in mainstream society. Dickinson uses a unique metaphor,...
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...Holly Pryor 372 After great pain, a formal feeling comes- The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs- The stiff Heart questions ‘was it He, that bore,’ And ‘Yesterday, or Centuries before’? The Feet, mechanical, go round- A wooden way Of ground, or Air, or Ought- Regardless grown, A quartz contentment, like a stone- This is the Hour of Lead- Remembered, if outlived, As freezing persons, recollect the Snow- First – Chill- then Stupor- then the letting go I believe Emily Dickenson is talking about the toll that a severe pain, possibly death, and how it makes you feel stiff, restless, and cold. Starting with the nerves you may feel “The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs,” explaining how nervous and anxious feelings can arise from pain. She says “The stiff Heart questions,” which can be relatable to how deep, sincere pain can make your heart feel stiff, and sad, and all the many questions you may ask yourself after losing someone close to you. She says “This is the Hour of Lead – Remembered, if outlived, As a freezing persons, recollect the Snow-“ touching base with the fact that no matter what, you will always remember this feeling of pain, like a person stuck in the snow will always remember the snow. Next she says “First – chill- then Stupor- then the letting go” , describing, basically, the whole process of losing someone you love. First you feel cold, stiff hearted, hurt, and next you go into a slump of stupor or sadness, and then there comes the part where...
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...the more complex poems that I have read. I do have a slight idea of her meaning of the poem and what the characters mentioned represent. I read the comments made by other people and their interpretations and have a better understanding on the poem. Biography Born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson never lived anywhere but Amherst and lived the last years of her life a recluse, writing poetry. After her death, her sister found hundreds of poems Dickinson had written, got them published, and Emily Dickinson's reputation grew from there, making her one of literature's most renowned poets. Although Dickinson is highly deemed as one of the most prominent poets in the field of American literature, during her lifetime she was chiefly known as a gardener rather than as a poet She never married She wore only white dresses for almost her entire adult life Although she was alleged to be a recluse, in reality, she was very much sociable. She frequently entertained guests at her home during her 20s and 30s She wrote nearly 2000 poems, most of which were published posthumously. During her lifetime she published only 7 poems Dickinson never named her poems; the titles were given by the early editors of her...
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...- - - - - - - - - - - - - Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She died in the same place on May 15, 1886. Today people know her as a fascinating, talented writer. Most of the pieces Emily wrote were poems. Emily was a very isolated individual. She rarely ever got out or had any contact with anybody outside of her home. Along with writing her poems she wrote letters to the people that she did have contact with. In the letters that she would write there would be poems somewhere within them. Emily wrote a total of 1,775 poems in her lifetime. Even though she wrote these poems she never let it be known that she had the capability to write poems with such elegance. All of the poems that she would write she kept hidden somewhere in her room. She would hide the poems in places like her window, under her bed, in corners of the room, and lots of other places. After Emily’s death the truth would be told about her secret talent. Emily’s sister, Lavinia Dickinson found around 900 of the poems Emily had hidden in her room. Her sister decided that the poems were good enough to be published. She went to a friend of the family where she would get help in editing and publishing the poems. Lavinia’s friend, Mabel Loomis Todd and a friend of hers, Thomas Wentworth Higginson began to put a lot of Said 2 effort of getting the poems published. In the year 1890 they accomplished in getting 115 of Emily’s poems published. After...
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...When someone dies, is the experience frightening or peaceful? One can argue that it is not death that is scary; it is the fact that it is unknown. Emily Dickinson is known for her poems on death. The poem Because I could not stop for Death argues on this topic. According to Dickinson, death is a peaceful experience. She emphasises this theme with the use of style, characters, and imagery. Emily Dickinson uses tender diction, and repetition to emphasise the theme of death being a peaceful experience. In the poem, the reader is continuously bombarded with the peaceful vocabulary. Words such as “kindly,” “slowly,” “civility,” “setting sun” and others are used to make the tone quite mild and smooth. These words provide encouragement to the previously established image in the readers mind. This is significant because it helps emphasize the theme even more. Next, Emily Dickinson uses repetition in her work to help support the theme. She constantly repeats the word “We,” that symbolises the fact that she1 and death are together, with no pain. If there were some sort of tension between the personified death, and the speaker, Emily Dickinson would have used a word that shows separation between the two distinct characters. By using the style of diction and repetition Emily Dickinson supports her theme. There are two (and a minor one)2 major characters in the poem that all share the show the element of peace. The kind characteristics of the speaker, death and the horses’ highlight...
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... Jealousy has A cunning face. Jealousy can live Without a mind, Without a heart, Without a soul, Even without God. Human jealousy And divine Ecstasy Are eternal strangers. Jealousy Is an aggressive boxer, A repulsive dancer, A hopeless singer And a useless storyteller. Jealousy, Before you entered Into my life, I was the world's Richest prince. Now that you are in me And I am for you, I have become The poorest street-beggar. Jealousy, You are my constant Nightmare-mind. You are my constant Love-absence-heart. Shortest is the distance From jealousy to hell. Jealousy, You are your own Ultimate Self-destructive-indulgence. HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS By: Emily Dickinson "Hope" is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chillest land And on the strangest sea, Yet never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me....
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...Never Die – Live Forever If you were given the chance to live forever without ever dying, would you accept it? If so, would you be able to watching everyone you love and care about die? The poem I choose to do my paper on is “Because I could not stop for Death”. The poem was written by Emily Dickinson in 1863. There are 3 points in the poem that I want to point out and explain further in detail. The three things this poem has rhythm, imagery, and flashback. I want to start by talking about the rhythm in the poem. First I will start by explain what rhythm is? Rhythm is the structure and movement of the poem. This poem has great rhythm. She starts this poem out by saying in the first 2 lines what she wants. It says “Because I could not stop death- He kindly stopped for me-”. It goes on from there explaining that they are in a carriage. They drive slowly and they see different points in her life and moments that seem to mean a lot to her and they continue to a house that seemed to be as the poem says “A swelling of the ground”. Finally at the end of the poem, she surmised the horses head and they were toward eternity. The poem really makes you feel like you’re there by using great imagery. Imagery is the use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. The poem “Because I could not stop death” had great imagery. She says that they were in a carriage and that they slowly drove. Reading those words just gives you an image of a carriage rolling down...
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...Emily Dickinson is one of the most well known poets of her time. Though her life was uneventful, what went on inside her house behind closed doors is unbelievable. After her father died she met Reverend Charles Wadsworth. She soon came to regard him as one of her most trusted friends, and she created in his image the lover whom she was never to know except in her imagination. It is also said that it was around 1812 when he was removed to San Francisco that she began her withdrawal from society. During this time she began to write many of her poems. She wrote mainly in private, guarding all of her poems from all but a few select friends. She did not write for fame, but instead as a way of expressing her feelings. In her lifetime only six of her poems were even printed; none of which had her consent. It was not until her death of Brights Disease in May of 1862, that many of her poems were even read (Chelsea House of Library Criticism 2837). Thus proving that the analysis on Emily Dickinson’s poetry is some of the most emotionally felt works of the nineteenth century. Miss Dickinson is often compared with other poets and writers, but unlike Shakespeare, Miss Dickinson is without opinions (Tate 86). Her verses and technical license often seem mysterious and can confuse critics, but after all is said, it is realized that like most poets Miss Dickinson is no more mysterious than a banker. It is said that Miss Dickinson’s life was starved and unfulfilled and yet all pity is misdirected...
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