The Poetic Styling of Emily Dickinson - Essay Example

The Poetic Styling of Emily Dickinson (Analysis of Six Poems by Emily Dickinson) It is withoutmuch difficulty to notice and grasp the thematic sense of Emily Dickinson’s poems which in a way or the other have striking semblance among themselves, being chiefly characteristic of death, immortality, and human relations. By evaluating six of her poems, the poet illustrates and brings across the vivid idea of each theme by her unique way with compacted style, capitalization, indirect juxtapositions, and trademark rhyming schemes besides the simple yet exquisite choice of words and means with typical literary devices by which she opts to be more emphatic and effective. Most of these creations convey the real flesh of her emotions and perspectives about life and death as reflected in her own experiences, though of reclusive existence. In the poem ‘Because I Could Not Stop for Death’, the capitalized subject ‘Death’ appears personified as a gentleman caller who takes the speaker as a genuine lover does to the ‘Carriage’ which symbolizes a matrimonial vehicle. ‘Immortality’ in the first stanza is likewise given the role of a passenger who seems to witness and affirm the bond between the two. ‘We slowly drove – He knew no haste’ would feel as if the poet’s notion of ‘Death’ is far from a single abrupt event but a journey that has a driver in the process. Dickinson uses an almost soothing tone along these lines to signify how well the speaker acknowledges the coming and the full presence of ‘Death’ which, in this case, is depicted as no longer an element of fright or disturbing apprehension. So instead of being terrified as of a sudden occurrence, she welcomes ‘Death’ to the point of admiration and respect through the last three lines of the second stanza. ‘Ring’, ‘Gazing Grain’, and ‘Setting Sun’ are terms used to indicate the inevitable stages of human life which the speaker encounters herself from early childhood until old age and the allegory of the ‘House’ described by the speaker as ‘A Swelling of the Ground’ is in figurative reference to the ‘grave’ implying however a sense of familiarity. By considering ‘House’ to mean ‘grave’, the poet likely shifts or radiates the positive significance of ‘home’ and its comfort and sign of life than a burial place. Other than ground swelling, she does not even make mention of decay or any term close to pertain to loss or deterioration which the literal ‘Death’ characterizes since the speaker plans to conclude her union with ‘Death’ as progressive with ‘Tis centuries’ and the phrase ‘toward Eternity’. Similarly, Dickinson necessitates having to capitalize in her brief composition of 'Tell all the Truth but tell it slant'. One may readily recognize her intention of doing this to specifically lead the reader to the remarkable aspect of stressing paired terms that should register the key ideas to understanding the concept of 'Truth'. According to the poet, if the 'Truth' be ever told, it must be gradually carried out so as not to severely overwhelm the seeker or whoever obtains its disclosure by surprise. As elucidated in her application of simile on the second stanza, 'Truth' telling is likened to informing 'Children' of 'Lightning' which strikes with enormous impact and such knowledge might come too much for the children to bear if unraveled all at once. A keener inspection of the line 'Or every man –' would conjecture Emily's influence of the Holy Bible when Paul was blinded by the excessive brilliance of the bright light which the angel who appeared before him on the road radiated. In sense, the poet has created a spiritual foundation for her basic principle of 'Truth' yet the briefness of the poem equivalently summons the reader to explore the interesting irony within its origin which takes to account Paul's life as a persecutor had kept him from seeing the 'Truth' there is in Christian faith, implying that there already exists a layer of abstract 'blindness' to be peeled off other than the literal one caused by the heavenly creature prior to his conversion. Dickinson perhaps wishes for the appreciative reader to personally discover these forms of blindness where one is taken away to bring about emergence of the other which apparently consists the 'Truth'. On writing 'I heard a Fly buzz' in 1863, Emily again lets herself loose on exploring the realms this time of transition between life and death. Noticeably, 'Fly' is being made to evolve from its ordinary self as a symbol of waiting for life to be handed over to death in a scenario observed as a mere recollection of the dead. A silent room amplifies this situation via the narrator's simile in 'The stillness in the Room – Was like the Stillness in the Air – Between the Heaves of Storm – ' as if to allude hoarse breathing with 'Heaves of Storm' that occasionally interrupts the 'Stillness' or quietness of the atmosphere. At this moment, everyone who surrounds the dying person including herself becomes consumed with pitch sadness and is seemingly caught between letting go for the ordeal in witnessing death to be over and a meager hope of miraculous recovery for the dying while 'Breaths were gathering firm'. 'For that last Onset' is further indicative of oxymoron when opposing terms 'last' and 'Onset' are put together for a purpose in association to the culminating presence of the 'King' or God who is about to claim life after the final breath of the narrator. Fly 'interposed' then marks the complete shift to the dimension next to the living which beyond pain or fear is 'Blue' to characterize a calm ending governed by the belief of something meaningful and not dark once the speaker arrives in death itself, conceived far from negative attitude or horror like the treatment granted to 'Because I Could Not Stop for Death'. By nature, 'craving' or obsession for something can only be truly felt by someone who usually fails to achieve the desired ends especially those who have toiled exceedingly but could barely grasp success that is why 'Success is counted sweetest' by them. 'To comprehend a nectar requires sorest need' metaphorically utilizes 'nectar' to concretize the 'sweetest' and 'sorest' for such dire need to succeed which, based on the poem, is hardly realized by the ones who gain victory so often that their fiery hearts for it and its essence soon die. So 'Not one of all the purple Host' could actually tell the difference between a loss and an otherwise since the 'craving' has been satisfied immediately to the extent of losing the burning passion, or let alone passion, in winning. Emily occurs to have rendered alliteration in the title to underscore the 's' sound to hint 'savory', succulent, or any term similar to 'sweet' taste for the poem to drip on the reader's presumably imagining tongue. This objective is even more sustained when she presents the title as a phrase which is missing a necessary detail thereby inviting the audience to fill in at justifying the poet's argument sensed from an excruciating reality as in the case of 'defeated – dying' in the third stanza, representing those who entirely and spontaneously understand the definition of success. On the other hand, Dickinson makes a most straightforward approach in claiming that 'starkest Madness' is present in or is the 'Much Sense' which is countered by her equal agreement of sensing 'divinest' in 'madness' as long as it is a 'discerning Eye' that judges. The poem is particularly attributed to the society's conventional perception of Dickinson's life as a recluse and whose anti-social character is regarded as psychologically challenging to a disorderly extent. She had a unique world of her own indeed but Emily points out her awareness of the way with human thinking outside of her confines. By 'Assent – and you are sane – ', the poet expresses her knowing that only the individuals who conform to the norms or standards of a society are acceptable and are not labeled 'mad'. A subtler allusion, however, is served through 'A narrow Fellow in the Grass' to establish a related point toward misconception which, if allowed to proceed as it is, may lead someone to a potential danger. Snake is the direct connotation of 'narrow Fellow' and the speaker's tone is one of descriptive scheme that appears more playful than threatening. To mistake the slithering creature for a 'shaft' or a 'Whiplash' suggests how first impressions are, in truth, unavoidable until one engages in the revealing circumstances that follow. 'Fellow' to describe a snake may be fairly claimed to possess a form of euphemism in the personification of what would be commonly thought of as a deadly venomous being. Hence, the light mode of description throughout the poem featuring 'He likes a Boggy Acre – A floor too cool for Corn' amounts to a comic relief so that the substantial theme is delivered not as a warning to be shivered about but as a statement of fact to be captured with some jest in the mood of the reader. Read More