Interpretation of Emily Dickinson's Poem 341 - Essay Example

? Interpretation of Emily Dickinson's poem 341 Today Emily Dickinson is recognized as one of America’s greatest poets. During his life in 19th century New England, however, she lived a life of reclusion and relative obscurity. Indeed, although Dickinson was a highly prolific writer a very small amount of her poems were published during her lifetime and when it was published editors significantly altered her work. Furthermore, it was not until a decent time into the 20th century that Dickinson was recognized for her poetic prowess. While her works span an array of subjects, most of them explore themes of death and immortality with startling poignancy. This essay specifically considers Dickinson’s poem 341 in terms of its literary qualities and natural imagery, and then compares this work to Dickinson’s poem 280. While Emily Dickson’s poem 341 outwardly explores the feeling of winter one recognizes that the work has a much more profound undertone. Dickinson begins the en-media-race and it is not until towards the end of the work that the reader gains full contextual recognition for the narrative. Consider the poem as it opens, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes -- The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs” (Dickinson, 1-2). Implementing these as the opening lines of the poem immediately throes the reader into Dickinson’s deliberation on death and mourning. As the poem advances Dickinson further establishes the exploration of these emotions that occur ‘after great pain’. While it would be easy to simply attribute the poem’s central focus to the exploration of mourning it seems that to a degree this may be too broad a description and instead Dickinson has succeeded in articulating an element of the human experience that has otherwise existed on the interstices of feeling and linguistic articulation. Indeed, while many poets have worked towards encapsulating the feeling of suffering after a painful experience it is Dickinson acute articulation of these emotions that places her work on a level of greatness. Consider Dickinson when she writes, “As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow -- / First -- Chill -- then Stupor -- then the letting go –“ (Dickinson, 12-13). Here Dickinson’s articulation of this feeling is highly effective both in the sonorous quality of the rhyming couplet that is implemented, but also in the visceral quality that the comparison to the feeling of freezing in snow. In these concluding lines Dickinson allows the reader to feel the impossible – falling into death. When examining Dickinson’s poem 341 one recognizes many references to and images of natural elements. This comes as no surprise considering the Dickinson matriculated in the same New England area as seminal American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson’s transcendentalism envisioned a close linkage between the natural world, spirituality, and human kind. This intimate connection between Dickinson’s poem 341 and these transcendental themes is readily apparent. Consider Dickinson when she writes, “The Feet, mechanical, go round --/ Of Ground,/or Air, or Ought –/ A Wooden way“ (Dickinson, 5-7). While the exact meaning of these lines remains slightly ambiguous, Dickinson’s articulation is truly astounding. In addition to retaining the overarching exploration of the feeling of mourning, these lines also align the individual’s physicality – their feet – with the very essence of the natural world. In these regards, Dickinson has began with the image of an individual’s feed as mechanical and going round, this image then connects of dissolves to the feet dangling in the ground, and potentially become air or ought. Additionally there is imagery that removes the work simply from the exploration of the poet’s current time and places it along the infinite. Consider Dickinson when she writes, “And Yesterday, or Centuries before?” (Dickinson, 4). The investigation here is into the heart’s own question, but perhaps more significant is the timeframe this questioning occurs, involving possibly past centuries. In this sense the work is not only investigating the nature of the narrator’s specific emotions, but also the past essences of the human spirit. The centrality of Dickinson’s imagery is not constricted to her poem 341. It’s recognized that Dickinson’s poem 280, in addition to a multitude of other elements, shares a similar exploration of internality, the natural world, and transcendental imagery, as Dickinson 341. Consider poem 280 when Dickinson writes, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,/ And Mourners to and fro/ Kept treading--treading--till it seemed/ That Sense was breaking through—“ (Dickinson, 1-4). Most clearly this opening, just like poem 341, establishes an overarching consideration of death and mourning. Just as poem 341 implements similes such as ‘tombs’ and metaphors of snow for emotion, Dickinson is here comparing referring to the funeral going on inside her brain. On a more specific level both poems consider and articulate with great poignancy the poet’s internality. Rather than exploring a lost love or specific memory, both works central preoccupation is the investigation of internal feelings and thought processes. One envisions the legend that grew around Dickinson as a recluse in terms of these works and it is not difficult to consider that the significant time she spent in her own company necessitated that she explore such dark recesses of the mind. In addition to the significant thematic similarities the works share there are also similar stylistic tendencies and technical form. Both works implement four line stanzas, with a repeating 8/6 syllable per line pattern. While Dickinson’s 341 explores emotions, however, poem 280 is concerned with more broad-scale concerns of the poet’s own death and soul. In conclusion, this essay examines Emily Dickinson’s poem 341. Within this spectrum of investigation the essay has considered the work in terms of its overriding intention, literary qualities, natural imagery, and then compares it to Dickinson’s poem 280. It’s demonstrated that poem 341 explores a feeling approximating mourning and implements strong and profound similes, metaphors and imagery in this mode of exploration. The essay argues that both works demonstrate a stylistic exploration of human internality and both work towards articulating human emotions. Ultimately, Dickinson’s writing, in its visceral qualities and introspection, grant the reader into a window of the human soul that is regularly shut off from consciousness. References Dickinson, Emily. "poem 341." poem hunter. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr 2012. . Dickinson, Emily. "poem 280." Illinois University . N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr 2012. . Read More