Dickinson’s Infatuation with Death Emily Dickinson is well-known due to the fact that she uses an immense amount of death in her poetry; she is also known as being reclusive and death-obsessed. Although other poets don’t typically use large amounts of death in his or her own poetry, Dickinson decided to take her own path in order to get her point across; meanwhile, some found her obsession with death rather disturbing. On the other hand, death could be interpreted through various forms of symbolism. For example, death can symbolize things such as equality, religion, and journeys. Additionally, death can be used to express the loss of a loved one or even an internal loss of yourself, such as despair. Her poems about death …show more content…
She appears to be irritated with the fact that she was labeled as something without having a choice; also, she was “[b]aptized, before, without the choice. . . [u]nto supremest name” (8,10). In poem 1732, she states that her life had already closed twice before it was close, but she is waiting to see if there is a third event ready to happen; however, “[p]arting is all we know of heaven,/ [a]nd all we need of hell (1,4,7-8). Dickinson mentions in Poem 324 how [s]ome keep the Sabbath going to church”, but she “keep[s] it, staying at [h]ome”; she talks about “[s]ome keep[ing] the Sabbath in Surplice. . . [but she] just wear[s her w]ings”, as well (1-2,5-6). She believes “instead of getting to Heaven, at last -/ [she’s] going, all along”, even without keeping the sabbath at church and without wearing surplice (11-12). Dickinson mentions in Poem 49 about how “[t]wice. . . [she] stood a beggar/ [b]efore the door of God” (3-4). Dickinson doesn’t necessarily put down religion, however, she doesn’t quite agree with parents who enforce religion upon their children due to the fact that she was once a child raised similar to that kind of lifestyle. Dickinson utilizes death in order to describe the stages of life as a journey. By elaborately using
In line eight Dickinson also alludes to a “King.” An interpretation of this can be an allusion to God, coming down from Heaven and taking Dickinson with Him. In the third stanza she illustrates the temporary nature of the world. She gives away her belongings and is ready to leave her time
Emily Dickinson was thought to have an obsession with death due to her many poems and letters that contain the subject. In the later stages of her life, many of her friends and family members died. There is a window in the house where she lived that looked over the cemetery where she was a witness to many funerals that occurred. To see such a repeated reminder of loved ones lost and the presence of death in her backyard, her thoughts frequently turned to death. Poems like 280, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” (87) shows a clear insight into how she was affected by death. In that poem, Emily Dickinson wrote about a funeral service that she must have witnessed. “And Mourners to and fro/ Keep treading – treading – till it seemed/ That Sense was breaking through”(87). Funerals can be very hard to digest for the people attending. From the few funerals I have attended, people are
“Afraid! Of whom am I afraid? Not Death – for who is He?” (F345). Dickinson, on the other hand, was not shaken by the thought of death, but rather welcomed it. Dickinson’s poetry not only portrayed death as nothing to fear, but it also counterbalanced society’s disdain for death. In one of Dickinson’s most popular poems, she writes “Because I could not stop for death- he kindly stopped for me” (F479). Culture typically sees death as an unwelcome end that everyone must face, but her poetry depicts death as being kind enough to halt its progress to accommodate her. Why is Emily Dickinson’s poetry so in love with death? Death is the only reliable constant (Ottlinger, 42). “All but Death, Can be adjusted Dynasties repaired – Systems – settled in the Sockets – Citadels – dissolved – Wastes of Lives – resown with Colors By Succeeding Springs – Death – unto itself – Exception – is exempt from Change -” (F789). Perhaps the harshest aspect of her poetry’s death is that after it has taken another soul, life moves on simply
Emily Dickinson concentrates many of her poems on the theme of death, predominantly her own. These “poems about death confront its grim reality with honesty, humor, curiosity, and above all a refusal to be comforted (“Emily Dickinson 1830-1886” 1659). While this was not an out of the ordinary topic during the American Romantic era, Dickinson seemed near obsessive in her focus. Additionally, Dickinson seems questionable in her thoughts on religion, another theme popular during the American Romantic era. Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for death” and “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” both explicitly examine the concept of death, the afterlife, and the author’s obsession with the melancholy.
Emily Dickinson was an American poet living during the 1800’s. She published 1800 poemsalso, funny enough. She wrote about what intrigued her, and used lots of imagery to do it.Specifically, Emily wrote mostly about God, death and immortality, and assertion of self. She,herself, died a young death at 55.Death is one of Emily’s most prominent and standing themes. Sometimes she describesdeath as menacing and evil like, the next death is gentle. In “Because I could not stop for Death–,“ she embodies death. She also presents the act of dying as quite simply just the realization ofimmortality. In “Some – Work for Immortality –,” death is nothing but the moment where thedead person can basically cash in their check of good behavior for eternal rewarding.Dickinson
In addition to these three stages, the final stage of eternity was symbolized in the last two lines of the poem, the “Horses Heads” (23), leading “towards Eternity” (24). Dickinson fathomed the incomprehensible progression of life by unraveling its complexity with figurative symbols. Emily Dickinson dresses the scene such that mental pictures of sight, feeling, and sound come to life. The imagery begins the moment Dickinson invites Her reader into the “Carriage.” Death “slowly” takes the readers on a sight seeing trip where they see the stages of life. The first site “We” passed was the “School, where Children strove” (9). Because it deals with an important symbol, —the “Ring”—this first scene is perhaps the most important. One author noted that “the children, at recess, do not play (as one would expect them to) but strive” (Monteiro 20).
Two of Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death” are both written about life’s stopping point, death. Although the poems are written by the same poet, both poems view death in a different manner. Between the two poems, one views death as having an everlasting life while the other anticipates everlasting life, only to realize it does not exist. While both poems are about death, both poems also illustrate that the outcome of death is a mysterious experience that can only be speculated upon with the anticipation of everlasting life.
Death was very prevalent in the life of Emily Dickinson. It had all started with the death of her loved ones and family friends that led her into a state of solitary where she had become very reclusive and gave her time to write the large amount of poems she created. It has provided people who have had something tragic or just in that state of mind to provide an outing as well as provide incredible imagery to pass onto a reader. Emily Dickinson was a poet that has very impressive way of using multiple themes in her poems that create incredible imagery. Each composition that Dickinson has created has impressive utilization of themes like nature, love, and death to create a more picturesque poem. Each poem had it own theme that came from past
Dickinson starts the first stanza of the poem with, “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me” (807). Clearly she was not ready to go, death simply took her by surprise and brought her busy life to a halt. This could be seen as a beautiful way to take on death because death is usually said in such a morbid tone and the fact she associated “kindly” with death makes it beautiful. The second line says, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves – and Immortality” (Dickinson 807). The author emphasizes Carriage, Ourselves, and Immortality. Dickinson seems to be talking about her own death chariot and by immortality, she believes her death is not the end, but rather as a step to eternal life.
Emily Dickinson once said, “Dying is a wild night and a new road.” Some people welcome death with open arms while others cower in fear when confronted in the arms of death. Through the use of ambiguity, metaphors, personification and paradoxes Emily Dickinson still gives readers a sense of vagueness on how she feels about dying. Emily Dickinson inventively expresses the nature of death in the poems, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain (280)”, “I Heard a fly Buzz—When I Died—(465)“ and “Because I could not stop for Death—(712)”.
Dickinson's writings on death are overtly paradoxical. She personifies death as a Being as she writes in "Because I could not stop for Death", Death greets her in a "Carriage held but just for Ourselves And Immortality". Many of her poems encompass the moments leading to death and limbo. During the time of their works it was coined as the Romantic Era, a time when religion was considered
One of the prevalent themes of Emily’s work is death. Since she wrote about her inner world and troubles, death as a theme could not be avoided. Emily Dickinson had to face the losing friends to death. Several deaths of family members, including her mother, father and a nephew helped contribute to the theme in her poetry. These events affected her health but she found a way to cope with the idea of death with her poetry. She developed an attitude towards death, seeing it as a transition from mortality to immortality. She accepted its inevitability and tried to make peace with the idea itself. This kind of comprehension was something Emily needed in order to cope with the loss of her loved ones who had been her only support and company in her isolated lifestyle. The theme of death is shown in the poem I picked for the research paper. In the poem called “How Far Is It To Heaven”, by Emily Dickinson it again deals with death but heaven and hell is included. This poem has only a few lines but it gets straight to the point and the theme of the poem hits you right in the face. One example is clear from the first two lines where it asks “How Far Is It To Heaven?” (Line 1) and “As far as Death this way” (Line 2). The poem is so simple but portrays a powerful message to the reader. Another huge theme of
One of the prevalent themes of Emily’s work is death. Since she wrote about her inner world and troubles, death as a theme could not be avoided. Emily Dickinson had to face the losing friends to death. Several deaths of family members, including her mother, father and a nephew helped contribute to the theme in her poetry. These events affected her health but she found a way to cope with the idea of death with her poetry. She developed an attitude towards death, seeing it as a transition from mortality to immortality. She accepted its inevitability and tried to make
The subject of death, including her own was a very prevalent theme in Emily Dickinson’s poems and letters. Some may find her preoccupation with death morbid, but this was not unusual for her time period. The mindset during Ms. Dickinson’s time was that of being prepared to die, in the 19th century people died of illness and accidents at an alarming rate, not to mention the Civil War had a high number of casualties, she also lived 15 years of her youth next to a cemetery. Dickinson’s view on death was never one of something to be feared she almost romanized death, in her poem “Because I Could not Stop for Death”, she actually personifies death while narrating from beyond the grave. In the first stanza she states “I could not stop for
The kind and respectful tone of Dickinson’s poem, "Because I Could not Stop for Death,” portrays death in a positive way, while Schwabe’s The Death of the Gravedigger conveys a negative view on the personification of death due to it’s bitter