Emily Dickinson is a very well known poet who was not a well-known poet during her lifetime but was recognized after she passed. Emily had a very bizarre way of writing her poetry. She would use marks that would be various sizes, slanted, horizontal or even vertical. These dashes seemed to replace normal punctuation. Her poems were based around a variety of images some included death, immortality, and the ways of living. Two popular poems that are great examples of her style of writing are “Because I could not stop for Death” and “I measure every Grief I meet”. Throughout these poems, Dickinson introduces the themes of death, immortality and the ways of life. Although these poems are similar they both introduce different ways of viewing how life is seen through the eyes of others and through the reader's eyes.
In “Because I could not stop for Death” there is a common theme of death and eternity. Throughout this poem, Dickinson uses many words as alternate meanings for death and life. This poem has words that are capitalized and describe a deeper meaning of imagery:
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess - in the Ring -
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain -
We passed the Setting Sun - (lines 9-12)
These words are used
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This shows Dickinson writes this poem as if it is close to her heart and that the griefs she talks about are ones she has been through. She talks about one reason for grieving is death, “Death - is but one - and comes but once -” (27). To me, this shows that she has gone through many deaths in her life causing her to grieve. Another, major point that Dickinson states are many wear crosses but some wear them differently. The crosses represent the griefs and she then states, “Still fascinated to presume / That Some - are like my own -” which is describing how she has realized she is not the only person going through these griefs
The poems “Because I could not stop for Death” and “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” by Emily Dickinson both describe death and a journey one takes to get there. In “Because I could not stop for Death” the speaker tells of someones journey of death that did not see it coming and had no time to slow down to notice it. While in the poem “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” the speaker describes ones journey to death that aware it is coming, someone who is prepared and waiting for it to happen. Death can arrive in many different forms, it is different for everyone and nobody knows or can predict accurately when or how it will come no matter how prepared or not prepared someone is.
The speaker seems completely at ease with the Death as they move along at a relaxed pace. In the third stanza, the reader sees reminders of the world that the speaker is passing through, with children playing, fields of grain, and the sun setting. However, the speakers place in the world shifts between the third stanza and the next. Dickinson states, “We passed the Setting Sun- (12)”, but at the beginning of the fourth stanza, the speaker corrects this by stating, “Or rather – / He passed us – (13) ” because she has died. In the rest of the
Source: Hampson, M. D. B. a. A. L. (Ed.). (1948). Poems by EMILY DICKINSON. U.S America: Little Brown and Company.
Whitman and Dickinson share the theme of death in their work, while Whitman decides to speak of death in a more realistic point of view, Dickinson speaks of the theme in a more conceptual one. In Whitman’s poems, he likes to have a more empathic view of individuals and their ways of living. For example, in Whitman’s “Song of Myself”, the poet talks about not just of himself, but all human beings, and of how mankind works into the world and the life of it. Even though the poem mostly talks about life and the happiness of it, Whitman describes also that life itself has its ending, and that is the theme of death. For Dickinson, she is the complete opposite of happiness.
Did you know only about a dozen out of over a thousand of Emily’s poems were published during her lifetime? Emily Dickinson also spent most of her adult life in her father’s house in her room upstairs writing poetry. One of Emily Dickinson’s many influences is that her window had a perfect view of the cemetery, and that could have influenced how she wrote her poems. In 7 years Emily created eight hundred self-written poems. Emily Dickinson deserves to be called a great (American) Poet because the amount of poems she wrote and how she challenged the existing definitions of poetry.
In the poem, the narrator prepares themselves for “the last onset-when the King be witnessed”, however comes to realize the reality of death. The narrator’s unfulfilled expectations of religion and afterlife are a result of their inability to accept reality. Dickinson uses this example of situational irony to present her belief that one cannot depend on religion for hope. This view is supported by the friends and family that surround the narrator on their deathbed. From the detail of “the eyes around - had wrung them dry” it can be inferred that they share the same theological expectations and use religion as a form of hope.
Emily Dickinson is one of the most disputed and sophisticated poets of the mind in American Literature. Her challenging and ambiguous poems never cease to amaze with their complex messages and subtleties. The silenced selves and skepticism represent the key which keeps readers coming back to her verse, searching for new and innovative interpretations. Her cryptic poems are filled with ellipses, which make up the magical “rich silence” of her poetic style. And while some people might argue that her poetry is distasteful, others think that this “silence” and rebellious style create an unexpected vision and are a revolutionary method of expressing oneself.
Emily’s poems are often stressful and depressing while Whitman’s poetry is graceful and candid. In addition, Whitman’s poetic style is opened while Dickinson is rather private and
Emily Dickinson: Her Life and Poetry Coming from a wealthy family, Emily Dickinson did not let her riches get the best of her. She took her education very seriously and used what she learned to transform into a popular and passionate poet. Taking an unorthodox approach to her writings, Dickinson changed American Literature with her creative style of poetry.
Dickinson wrote this poem in hopes that her brother would realize that life can be joyful and happy if you focus on the people who support you instead of the negative things in life. Thinking about the positive things in life is something that everyone needs to get through difficult
In this poem, Dickinson is implying that forgetting someone or moving on is a lot harder when it is not certain if the feelings were ever shared. The truth may not be positive, but it is better than uncertainty. The narrator has been hurt somehow by her lover, and is not only angry with him but at herself. Pain makes it harder to forget someone as well. The narrator thinks that if the emotion goes away, so will the pain and the memories, which may be true, but the narrator is not entirely certain.
In “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, Emily Dickinson uses imagery and symbols to establish the cycle of life and uses examples to establish the inevitability of death. This poem describes the speaker’s journey to the afterlife with death. Dickinson uses distinct images, such as a sunset, the horses’ heads, and the carriage ride to establish the cycle of life after death. Dickinson artfully uses symbols such as a child, a field of grain, and a sunset to establish the cycle of life and its different stages. Dickinson utilizes the example of the busyness of the speaker and the death of the sun to establish the inevitability of death.
In Dickinson’s poem, death is not as terrifying as it is believed to be by most people. She sees death as a beautiful thing, a new chapter, rather than the last chapter. In contrast, Donne personifies death as a bully who turns out not to be so tough. Death is often thought of as dark and frightening, but Dickinson describes death as a journey, and not just a single event that concludes a life.
Emily Spanihel Lopez Eng. 1302 August 3, 2016 Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson’s poetry was heavily influenced by the Metaphysical poets of seventeenth-century England, as well as her reading of the Book of Revelation and her upbringing in a Puritan New England town, which encouraged a Calvinist, orthodox, and conservative approach to Christianity. She admired the poetry of Robert, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and John Keats.
This is a direct metaphor of the physical changes that undergo as a person passes away. As Death brings her to her new ‘house’, her grave, she describes it as a swelling in the ground. Dickinson rides the line between the reality of the situation, and the description of the metaphorical house. She describes the roof as barely visible—this is the top of her coffin, still undergoing burial. It is made clear that this part of death—the coldness, and burial—may not be ideal, but it does guide her to Immortality.