The poetry of Emily Dickinson is one of the most recognizable of the 19th century. Dickinson’s poetry stands out because of its unconventional use of capitalization and punctuation. Her poems contain capitalized words which are not normally capitalized. Her poems are noted for the frequent use of the dash. Literary scholars have attempted to interpret Dickinson’s unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Some believe that it was merely part of Dickinson’s penmanship (Weisbuch 73). They therefore edit Dickinson’s poetry and publish them in standardized form. Others believe that the capitalization and punctuation were a conscious effort on Dickinson’s part. These scholars notice the little nuances of Dickinson’s dashes, such as whether it slants up or down (Miller 50). They notice the different sizes of her capital letters (Miller 58). These scholars believe that Dickinson’s poetry is best understood when read in their handwritten form. The average reader cannot help but be affected by Dickinson’s style. The capitalized words draw the reader’s attention. They highlight important key words of the poem. The dashes set apart specific words and phrases, forcing the reader to slow down while reading. The dashes compel the reader to contemplate and ponder over the lines. Thus, whether or not Dickinson had a conscious purpose in her unconventional capitalization and punctuation, they have an undeniable effect on the rhythm of the poem and the perception of the reader. Dickinson’s capitalization is highly unconventional. She capitalizes words in the middle of the line. Here are the first four lines from “There’s a certain Slant of light” which illustrate Dickinson’s capitalization style: There’s a certain Slant of light, Winter ... ... middle of paper ... ...kinson likens herself to a loaded gun. She contains much energy and power, but can only be useful when taken into the hands of a master gunman. The punctuation and capitalization define “a Loaded Gun” as the theme of the poem. They also increase the strength of the metaphor. Dickinson’s capitalization and punctuation not only define her style, but they also provide added symbolic meaning and musical interpretation to her poetry. Works Cited Denman, Kamilla. "Emily Dickinson's Volcanic Punctuation." The Emily Dickinson Journal 2.1 (1993): 22-46. Print. Miller, Cristanne. Emily Dickinson: A Poet’s Grammar. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987. Print. Porter, David T. The Art of Emily Dickinson’s Early Poetry. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966. Print. Weisbuch, Robert. Emily Dickinson’s Poetry. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1975. Print.
I think her unusual punctuation and capitalization adds and distracts to her poetry at the same time. Her choice of writing adds to her poetry by giving us a glimpse of what Emily Dickinson was feeling at the time she wrote those poems. I also don’t think that she meant for most of her work to be read. I believe the main reason she had the filing system was to go back and correct the mistakes that she had made but since she had written so many poems maybe she never got around to completing them correctly.
Author’s style is defined as the distinct literary manner that makes his or her expression of content unique from other authors; Katherine Anne Porter and Emily Dickinson have different styles that contribute to a better understanding of the themes of their work. In “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” Porter uses the strea...
Edith Wylder, The Last Face: Emily Dickinson's Manuscripts (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1971).
Phillips, Elizabeth. " The Histrionic Imagination." Emily Dickinson: Personae and Performance. University Park and London: Penn State, 1919.
The poem does not have a perfect rhyme; however, it still has some rhythms making the poem connected. For instance, “Immortality” (line 4) with “Civility” (line 8), “finally” and “Eternity”; they all make the poem has beautiful rhythms and poetic musicality. Dickinson also uses many art techniques; for instance, personification and metaphors, to make the poem more appealing. Dickinson personified “Death” as a gentleman in the poem, which it the most important personification in the poem. Dashes are another literary trope commonly used by Dickinson, in this poem she also uses many dashes. Dashes can make readers’ reader speed slow down. Hence, readers can have more time to consider the meaning of the poem. Besides that, the tempo of the poem also influenced by the use of capital letters for common nouns. The speaker of the poem is a woman who has an unusual trip with death and immortality, at the end of the trip, the woman realizes that death is not the end of the
She chooses this arrangement of verse in order to ordain a religious aspect into the poem, which does well to suite the theme and what she is fond of. As the recollection of the speaker’s death progresses, Dickinson uses the stanzas to mark the stages of the
The poetic work penned by Emily Dickinson is often viewed cryptically mainly due to the aspects of less punctuation and presence of destructive language that aligns imagery. For the purpose of analysis, the poem selected is Dickinson’s 754, ‘My Life has Stood – A Loaded Gun’ which was published in 1999. The poem has eluded critics and the interpretation of this work was carried out in a number of ways including frontier romanticism and a spirituality expression. On the other hand, the poem is underpinned with an extensive metaphor, in the light of which the life of the speaker becomes a loaded gun. The beginning of the poem depicts a typical American scene with the existence of a gun, a hunter, and a trip to the woods for hunting. The poem
Dickinson, Emily. A. I heard a fly buzz. Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M. h. Abrams.
Ickstadt, Heinz. “Emily Dickinson’s Place in Literary History; or, the Public Function of a Private Poet.” The Emily Dickinson Journal 10.1 (2001): 55-68.
Vendler, Helen. Dickinson: Selected Poems and Commentaries. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2010. 118-20. Google Books. Google. Web. 5 April. 2014. .
I have heard people say that Emily Dickinson used dashes whenever she could not find the words to fully express what she meant. While this is true in one sense, it is preposterous in another. Dickinson's careful and clever choice of words does not seem to be consistent with someone who would simply enter a dash once at a loss for words. Punctuation is a necessary tool for all writers to create an effect that words alone can not. In “I died for beauty,” the dashes force the reader to pause at certain moments to intensify the suspense and sheer gravitas of what is being said. For example, in the opening line “I died for Beauty—but was scarce,” there is no word that could be placed in this line to more strongly convey the narrator's death for beauty to ...
...e use of figurative language and many literary techniques, Dickinson makes clear her theme, adding on to the intensity of the poem.
Dickinson’s over abundant use of the hyphen is to put more voice into, to let the public know it’s her voice, technically being her “signature” as Kamilla Denman states. However, many conclude that the use of the hyphen signifies stress, which is considered to be a “female habit” (Denman). On the other hand, this poem uses the hyphen to enable a certain pause after each line to enhance the depth of her writing or message. In essence with that statement, the hyphen is just “as important as a period” since it does strengthen the psychological themes and moral of this
The waxing and waning action of the text might symbolize the constant cycles of life. The fact that the text recedes then elongates in rhythm make the reader think the speaker of the poem is not sure what steps to take in their life. The speaker might not have convinced him or herself about the suicide attempt. Many suicidal thoughts are stopped short of action and then thought about later. Dickinson writes in this style to show the opposing forces of every situation. Suicide would likely be the most contemplated decision the narrator has ever had to make.