Life After Death in the Poems of Emily Dickinson - Essay Example

Education Life after Death Emily Dickinson is a famous poet of the 19th century whose work drew a lot of attention little after her death. Her work seems to have been centered on death and religion, and her artistic style has showed a vivid coverage of her themes of concern. Additionally, her themes seem to have been much influenced by her life of solitude and depression, a life that if continuously depicted in her famous collection of poems. While she is keen to show the reality of death and its presence in the people, she shows high hopes in a life after death. Her idea is that there is life after death and is optimistic that after a stressful life on earth, a better life will be awaiting in the future. An explication of a few of her poems indicates that she managed to meet the standards and styles of literary art. In her poem, I died for beauty-but was scarce, she reflects on the slow transition to death. She points out that as she died for beauty and gradually was adjusted to the tomb, another person who died for truth also accompanied her in the next room. The poem presents the similarity between truth and beauty and that both are sources of failure. As she alludes to the illusion of a dialogue between dead two dead people, she alludes to her optimism of a life after death. In another work, Death blow is a Life blow to Some, she applies paradox to show that the result of death is life. She claims that life becomes evitable after death, a contradiction of the social norm that life is an end of life. Various poetic styles are exuded in the two works of Dickinson. Paradox is a common style in the work pieces, both contradicting the social norm that death is the beginning of life itself and not the end. The style is clear in the dialogue between two people who died of beauty and truth and in those whose life gain vitality after their death. Irony is indicated where the author mentions that she died for beauty and the voice of the other dead person says that death was a result of truth. It is ironic that the truthful and the beautiful in society die at young age while the rest live long on earth (Dickinson 1004). Symbolism is a style that is well employed in the poem as the author speaks of beings adjusted to the tomb to refer to her conformity to death. The unique integration of these styles seems to bring the illusion that it is easier to conform in the life on earth as compared to that after death, which puts all humanity at the same level. There seems to be a great connection between the events of Dickinson’s life and her articulation of her poetic style. At her time of existence, it was a period of tension and her society was rather vulnerable. In the 19th century, it was a period of civil war and the people had to persevere harsh conditions and death was one of the realities that had to be embraced. Having stood as a religious person during such a period, her life was hard and she seems to refer to this period as a time of a series of death for herself (Nebo Literature Para. 2). Her expression of dialogue with a male victim is a sign of hope in the life after death. As she employs symbolism, she is able to compare the life of her life on earth and the life after death. When she says that “adjusted into the tomb” she indicates how possible it is to conform to the life after death as opposed to life on earth where she had failed for beauty. As she explains that she died for beauty, that was scarce, she intends to show how she died while struggling to accomplish dreams that she never achieved. Her poetic style seems to be a mere vivid description of her life both on earth and after her death. The central message of these poems is that there is a more purposeful life after the earthly life. In her poem, “Death Blow is a Blow for Some”, she says that life gains vitality after the death of a person, and that death in itself is a beginning of a new life for the people (Dickinson 1018). Most scholars have interpreted this same poem to mean that Dickinson implies that when a person dies, those who are left mourn and suffer emotionally, while for those who die have the opportunity to start a new life (Nebo Literature Para. 4). The poem “I died for beauty-but was scarce” seems to be a continuation of the former. The poem exudes a lot of hope that people can still share and talk about their past life after death. Life after death put people on an equal level, yet they may have occupied different positions in the life on earth. While the persona feels that the one who died for ‘truth’ was much worth on earth than the one who died for ‘beauty’, she is convinced that after death truth and beauty are all the same thing (Dickinson 1004). A comparison of the two lives shows that life on earth is more complex and that every person is bound to fail somehow, as opposed to the life after death. The fact that the persona “adjusts to the tomb” shows that it is easier to conform to life after death. From a critical evaluation of the two poems, these pieces of art pass the standards of a good poem. Each sentence in a poem should be a building block, contributing to the structure, the message and the flow of the poem. Efficient use of poetic styles is a concern for any poet who intends to meet the criteria of a standards poem. In the poem “I died for beauty” the writer coherently writes each line to merge to the ideas and to bring out his key thematic concerns. The use of both irony and paradox contributes to the idea of bringing hope of life after death. In the poem “Death Blow is a Blow for some” the author uses only four lines to express his clear message that the worth of life is gained after death (Dickinson 1018). Paradox and irony are elements that contribute to the symbolic message of the author. The factor the two poems converge to the same idea that there is a better life after death shows the creativity of the author and her ability to develop a cohesive plot that leads to the main theme of the poem. In this regard, the poems by this author can be regarded as standard literary works of art. Works Cited Dickinson, Emily. Poems. Boston: Roberts brothers, 1892. Print. Nebo Literature. I Died For Beauty – But Was Scarce. Accessed from: < http://neboliterature.mrkdevelopment.com.au/poetry/dickinson/I-died-for-beauty- analysis.html> Read More