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Analysis emily dickinson poems
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Analysis emily dickinson poems
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Two of the most influential American poets, writing in fundamentally different styles, took separate paths that, when joined, lead to the beginning of modern American poetry. Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, known as the mother and father of American poetry, shaped the future of American poetry by challenging and changing the traditional style of the art form. The differences in their works are directly related to the differences in their personalities, values, and lifestyles which reflect America’s celebration of diversity during the middle of the nineteenth century and can be summed up in four categories: form, voice, subject matter, and purpose. First, the two poets wrote in completely different forms. Emily Dickinson used short …show more content…
Emily Dickinson wrote often of abstract concepts like truth, death and the soul. She often questioned traditional ideas categorized herself as having “no hope” in faith. Dickinson’s works expressed her feelings of science’s power over religion and of people’s relation to nature more than their relation to faith. In Dickinson’s work, she was meticulous in choosing her words as it is evident that each and every word is intentional. Through her nearly eighteen hundred surviving poems, we can observe that she was specifically frustrated with faith and religion. She was not afraid to write of physical pain and joy or of death. Dickinson wrote about the completely ordinary as well as those intensely passionate or spiritual. In my opinion, one of Dickinson’s main concerns in writing was to be openly expressive about all encounters in life. This openness was not translated into a desire for fame because very few of her works were published during her lifetime. Emily Dickinson often sent her poems in letters to friends, and it was not until after her death that her poems were published and her impact on poetry realized. The quality and complex logic of Dickinson’s poem paired with her depth of subject matter led to her success; because in her lifetime, Dickinson was simply concerned with her personal poetic expansion and putting all of her intricate, open ideas on paper for her own pleasure rather than for
Although, Emily Dickinson physically isolated herself from the world she managed to maintain friendships by communicating through correspondence. Ironically, Dickinson’s poetry was collected and published after her death. Dickinson explores life and death in most of her poems by questioning the existence of God. Dickinson applies common human experiences as images to illustrate the connection from the personal level of the human being, to a universal level of faith and God. This can be seen in Dickinson’s Poem (I, 45).
Emily Dickinson was an intricate and contradictory figure who moved from a reverent faith in God to a deep suspicion of him in her works. (Sherwood 3) Through her own intentional choice she was, in her lifetime, considered peculiar. Despite different people and groups trying to influence her, she resisted making a public confession of faith to Christ and the Church. (Sherwood 10) She wanted to establish her own wanted to establish her own individuality and, in doing so, turned to poetry. (Benfey 27) Dickinson’s poems were a sort of channel for her feelings and an “exploration” of her faith (Benfey 27).
Dickinson’s Christian education affected her profoundly, and her desire for a human intuitive faith motivates and enlivens her poetry. Yet what she has faith in tends to be left undefined because she assumes that it is unknowable. There are many unknown subjects in her poetry among them: Death and the afterlife, God, nature, artistic and poetic inspiration, one’s own mind, and other human beings.
She lived a really unstable life where she was really close to her brothers and sisters; she cherished her family so much, but her relationship with her mother and father was strict. Dickinson lived a very unfamous life until after she died, her poems became more famous because her sister-in-law published her poems. Works Cited “Poets. Org.” Poets.org.
Miss Dickinson is often compared with other poets and writers, but “like 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. She lived one of the richest and deepest lives ever on this continent. It was her own conscious choice to deliberately withdraw from society into her upstairs room…'; (Tate 83). She kept to “only a few select friends and the storm, wind, wild March sky, sunsets, dawns, birds, bees, and butterflies were sufficient companionship for Miss Dickinson'; (Loomis 79). She dealt with a lot both physically and psychologically and in the end she still came out on the top. So as Allen Tate best said it “in her own historical setting Miss Dickinson is nevertheless remarkable and special'; (82).
Emily Dickinson, who achieved more fame after her death, is said to be one of the greatest American poets of all time. Dickinson communicated through letters and notes and according to Amy Paulson Herstek, author of “Emily Dickinson: Solitary and Celebrated Poet,” “Writing was the way she kept in touch with the world” (15). Dickinson’s style is unique and although unconventional, it led to extraordinary works of literature. Dickinson lived her life in solitude, but in her solitude she was free to read, write and think which led to her nonconformity and strong sense of individualism. Suzanne Juhasz, a biographer of Dickinson, sums up most critics’ idea of Dickinson ideally: “Emily Dickinson is at once the most intimate of poets, and the most guarded. The most self-sufficient, and the neediest. The proudest, and the most vulnerable. These contradictions, which we as her readers encounter repeatedly in her poems, are understandable, not paradoxical, for they result from the tension between the life to which she was born and the one to which she aspired” (1). Dickinson poured her heart and soul into over 1,700
In conclusion, it can be stated the examples of Emily Dickinson's work discussed in this essay show the poetess to be highly skilled in the use of humor and irony. The use of these two tools in her poems is to stress a point or idea the poetess is trying to express, rather than being an end in themselves. These two tools allow her to present serious critiques of her society and the place she feels she has been allocated into by masking her concerns in a light-hearted, irreverent tone.
Emily Dickinson became legendary for her preoccupation with death. All her poems contain stanzas focusing on loss or loneliness, but the most striking ones talk particularly about death, specifically her own death and her own afterlife. Her fascination with the morose gives her poems a rare quality, and gives us insight into a mind we know very little about. What we do know is that Dickinson’s father left her a small amount of money when she was young. This allowed her to spend her time writing and lamenting, instead of seeking out a husband or a profession. Eventually, she limited her outside activities to going to church. In her early twenties, she began prayed and worshipped on her own. This final step to total seclusion clearly fueled her obsession with death, and with investigating the idea of an afterlife. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, Dickinson rides in a carriage with the personification of Death, showing the constant presence of death in her life. Because it has become so familiar, death is no longer a frightening presence, but a comforting companion. Despite this, Dickinson is still not above fear, showing that nothing is static and even the most resolute person is truly sure of anything. This point is further proven in “I heard a Fly buzz”, where a fly disrupts the last moment of Dickinson’s life. The fly is a symbol of death, and of uncertainty, because though it represents something certain—her impending death—it flies around unsure with a “stumbling buzz”. This again illustrates the changing nature of life, and even death. “This World is not Conclusion” is Dickinson’s swan song on the subject of afterlife. She confirms all her previous statements, but in a more r...
Emily Dickinson is one of the great visionary poets of nineteenth century America. In her lifetime, she composed more poems than most modern Americans will even read in their lifetimes. Dickinson is still praised today, and she continues to be taught in schools, read for pleasure, and studied for research and criticism. Since she stayed inside her house for most of her life, and many of her poems were not discovered until after her death, Dickinson was uninvolved in the publication process of her poetry. This means that every Dickinson poem in print today is just a guess—an assumption of what the author wanted on the page. As a result, Dickinson maintains an aura of mystery as a writer. However, this mystery is often overshadowed by a more prevalent notion of Dickinson as an eccentric recluse or a madwoman. Of course, it is difficult to give one label to Dickinson and expect that label to summarize her entire life. Certainly she was a complex woman who could not accurately be described with one sentence or phrase. Her poems are unique and quite interestingly composed—just looking at them on the page is pleasurable—and it may very well prove useful to examine the author when reading her poems. Understanding Dickinson may lead to a better interpretation of the poems, a better appreciation of her life’s work. What is not useful, however, is reading her poems while looking back at the one sentence summary of Dickinson’s life.
Emily Dickinson was a different type of poet that has people thinking of things people would never think about in another author’s work. Dickinson was born and raised with the rich life with only two siblings. Her work was inspired by her much of her childhood and the people she interacted with. An example of Dickinson’s different type of style is, “ So I conclude that space and time are things of the body and have little or nothing to do with ourselves. My Country is Truth,”(Berry) Emily Dickinson did not share hardly any of her writing when she was alive. According to Berry,” With the exception of six poems that appeared in newspapers at various times, and another that appeared in a collection of stories and poems in 1878, Emily Dickinson never published her work,” (Berry) Even though Dickinson wrote differently, does not mean she had a different lifestyle compared to most people today. Dickinson was an outstanding American poet where her childhood, family and friends, religion, and education inspired most of her poetry.
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on 10th December, 1830, in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts. As a young child, she showed a bright intelligence, and was able to create many recognizable writings. Many close friends and relatives in Emily’s life were taken away from her by death. Living a life of simplicity and aloofness, she wrote poetry of great power: questioning the nature of immortality and death. Although her work was influenced by great poets of the time, she published many strong poems herself. Two of Emily Dickinson’s famous poems, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and “I Heard a Fly Buzz- When I Died”, are both about life’s one few certainties, death, and that is where the similarities end.
On December 10, 1830, a cold winter day, Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was brought into the world. Emily lived on Maine street in a lovely brick home, which they called the “Homestead.” Emily had an older brother named Austin. She also had a younger sister, who was born three years after her, her name was Livina. The first school that Emily attended was a school right down the road from her house. This was the first education that she received. This was the school that her father wanted her to attend. This is also where Emily’s writing career began (Borus: 9-14).
Dickinson's poetry is both thought provoking and shocking. This poem communicates many things about Dickinson, such as her cynical outlook on God, and her obsession with death. It is puzzling to me why a young lady such as Emily Dickinson would be so melancholy, since she seemed to have such a good life. Perhaps she just revealed in her poetry that dark side that most people try to keep hidden.
Observations: Upon first glance, many literary elements popped out at me. To begin, it was obvious that, in typical Dickinson fashion, there were many dashes. These dashes are used to indicate an interruption or abrupt shift in thought and to add emphasis. More importantly, they are there to remind the reader to stop and take a longer pause to reflect back on what was trying to be said at that point within the poem. These dashes, from simply looking at the poem, also interrupt the rhythmic flow and help lend a hand in helping Dickinson create a unique form of diction. Alliteration is also a key element throughout this poem as there are many ‘s’, ‘w’, and ‘f’ sounds. For example, there is line within the poem that says, “When One died for Truth, was lain…” With this, there is a continuous “w” sound rolling off of the tongue. Assonance is also noticed throughout the poem in that Dickinson uses ‘oo’ sounds with the words beauty, tomb, who, truth, and room. In terms of rhyme and meter, the poem is set with a fixed rhyme pattern that took the form of ABCB. There are also many moments throughout the poem in which words are randomly capitalized. Although they look as if they were capitalized sporadically and without thought, these words were written this way to place emphasis upon the meaning of the words and the messages behind them. The structure of this poem (and most of Dickinson’s poems for that matter) is a closed or fixed form dealing with four line stanzas, or quatrains. Figures of speech used, just by observing the poem, were metaphors, personification, and metonymy. For example, this whole poem focuses on death and truth – two things that are ‘intangible’ objects without life to them. Yet, Dickinson portrays them in a way in wh...