Emily Dickinson Diction

In Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome, set in 1881 Starkfield, Massachusetts, the protagonist Ethan Frome and his love Mattie Silver commit an act that can be viewed as delusional and eccentric. Yet Emily Dickinson wrote “Much madness is divinest Sense--/To a discerning Eye--.” Indeed, Ethan and Mattie’s attempt to commit suicide by coasting into an elm tree initially seems irrational but can actually be judged reasonable by a reader with a “discerning [e]ye.” In fact, one actually understands the reasons Ethan and Mattie desire to die when one looks at Ethan’s miserable past, Mattie’s deplorable life, and their bleak future without each other. Ethan’s miserable past explains his suicide attempt.

In the beginning, Dickinson unifies the people of the world by using “We grow accustomed to the Dark” and then transitions to only “the Bravest -- grope a little--” (1,13). Initially, everyone shares one common experience: the cold, iron grip of darkness. It is a universal feeling that every person passes through. However, only a few individuals dare to venture out and challenge the obstacles of life. Consequently, Dickinson’s use of diction signifies two different kinds of people in the

The last two lines of the poem are a timid reflection on what might happen “Had I the Art to stun myself/ With Bolts—of Melody!” (23-24). The idea that creation is a power that can get loose and injure even the creator illuminates why in this poem the artist positions herself firmly as a mere spectator. In these first two poems, we meet a Dickinson who is not entirely familiar to us—even though we are accustomed to her strong desire for privacy, these poems can be startling in the way they reveal the intensity of Dickinson’s fears. She is, after all, shrinking from what is dearest to her—nature, one of her favorite subjects, becomes a harsh judge, and poetry, her favored medium of communication, can suddenly render the reader “impotent” and the writer “stun[ned]” (19, 23). The extremity of her positions in shrinking from the small and beautiful things she loves creates the sense that this is just the beginning of a journey by leaving so much room for change.

Dickinson’s tone seems to portray suffering throughout the beginning of her poems, but gradually develops into a more hopeful and optimistic attitude

While much of Emily Dickinson's poetry has been described as sad or morose, the poetess did use humor and irony in many of her poems. This essay will address the humor and/ or irony found in five of Dickinson's poems: "Faith" is a Fine Invention, I'm Nobody! Who are you?, Some keep the Sabbath Going to Church and Success Is Counted Sweetest. The attempt will be made to show how Dickinson used humor and / or irony for the dual purposes of comic relief and to stress an idea or conclusion about her life and environment expressed by the poetess in the respective poem. The most humorous or ironic are some of the shorter poems, such as the four lined stanzas of "Faith" is a Fine Invention and

One’s sanity is what makes them independent and defines who they are. In Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Much Madness is the Divinest Sense”, there are various similarities in the theme between both writings. A similarity would be that both writings state how being different and non-conforming from everyone else can lead to judgement and no acceptance from society. In Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” it is stated that,”For non-conformity the world whips you with its displeasure. And therefore a man must know how to estimate a sour face. The bystanders looks askance on him in the public street or in the friend’s parlor…” This shows that by not accustoming to a society’s standards, people are going to immediately judge and consider

Struggles between opposing pressures of conformity and individuality which can also bring about connection is successfully explored by Dickinson through the depiction of the persona’s conflict between a desire to belong yet desiring individuality as an artist, which ultimately results in a harmony between the two personas due to similar desires.

She opens the poem reflecting on the start of her first episode, all while personifying her soul telling it sing, but writes that her “strings were snapt.” The string is a metaphor for her mind and the word-choice to describe her mind is identical to the flow of her maniacal brain waves: quick, charged and aggressive. She explains how mind is mended through the pace at which she can put words onto the page. The second day escalates her mind to the point where she loses control over it. Dickinson’s uses of the dash points to the distinctive operation of her thought processes-mind to page. Another poem, They Shut Me Up In Prose” displayed how manic-depressive individuals are mistreated, even shut out due to their uncontrollable behavior. Her state of being influences her judgment and social behaviors and she battles with the idea of “stillness”. The word “still” is almost used as a form of mockery, “Could themselves have peeped — / And seen my Brain – go round — / They might as wise have lodged a Bird / For Treason – in the Pound -.” The bird is used as a metaphor for her mind, to describe the foolishness lodged in a request for her to remain stagnant. The overall theme of outsiders seeking to mute the behavior of patients with mental illness shows the human desire to attempt to mold the unknown to the norms of society. Dickinson’s work has the reader reflect on all the

In 'Much Madness is divinest Sense' (435), a definition poem, Emily Dickinson criticizes society's inability to accept rebellion, arguing that the majority is the side that should in fact be considered 'mad.' The perception of madness and insanity are a common theme among Dickinson's poetry, as she fought against society's tainted view of herself as crazy. She focuses on how judgmental society is on non conformist views when she describes the majority as 'discerning' (line 2). As similar to most of her poetry, she writes in iambic meter and uses slant rhyme, as lines one, three, and seven end with 'Sense', 'Madness', 'dangerous', and lines six and eight, in 'sane' and 'Chain' in seemingly rhyme scheme. Dickinson credits the majority

In Dickinson’s poem, “Because I could not stop for Death,” there is much impression in the tone, in symbols, and in the use of imagery that exudes creativity. One might undoubtedly agree to an eerie, haunting, if not frightening, tone in Dickinson’s poem. Dickinson uses controlling adjectives—“slowly” and “passed”—to create a tone that seems rather placid. For example, “We slowly drove—He knew no haste / …We passed the School … / We passed the Setting Sun—,” sets a slow, quiet, calm, and dreamy atmosphere (5, 9, 11,

Religion, the integrity of faith, and the nature of God are all prominent elements of renowned poet Emily Dickinson’s pieces. By using a small variety of formats, namely short and assertive, with long and flowy on the contrary, Dickinson is able to convey the complexity of the topic at hand, or the gravity of the issue. Dickinson also uses varying diction in order to differentiate how she views potentially controversial subjects; sometimes using ornate vocabulary and other times making blunt statements to do so. Using these tools, Dickinson productively conveys the message that there is a much needed blend between the idea of religion and the facts that science provides.

Emily Dickinson was an exceptional writer through the mid-late 1800’s. She never published any of her writings and it wasn’t until after her death that they were even discovered. The complexity of understanding her poems is made prevalent because of the fact that she, the author, cannot expound on what her writing meant. This causes others to have to speculate and decide for themselves the meaning of any of her poems. There are several ways that people can interpret Emily Dickinson’s poems; readers often give their opinion on which of her poems present human understanding as something boundless and unlimited or something small and limited, and people always speculate Dickinson’s view of the individual self.

However, the comparison between these two masterpieces shows two different aspects of society and community life. It shows how one community can manipulate other as well as how the society misjudges an individual on the basis of his/her appearance. Although each of these masterpieces shares distinctive emotions, yet both these poems seem interconnected and interrelated. Dickinson shares with the reader her thoughts about affected fame and fake glamour that people love so much; on the contrary she loves being “nobody”. On the other hand, there is sensitive and frustrating poem of Dunbar who communicates bigoted and biased behaviors that an entire community thrashes on another community. In Dunbar’s work, there are cultural conflict, ethnocentrism, group loyalty, dismay and too many other

“While Dickinson succumbed to a life of social marginality and seclusion,” she used her poetry to “open a new frontier of feminine power and assertiveness” (Gale 47).

In Emily Dickinson’s lyrical poem “There’s a certain slant of light” she describes a revelation that is experienced on cold “winter afternoons.” Further she goes to say that this revelation of self “oppresses, like the Heft of Cathedral Tunes” and causes “Heavenly Hurt”, yet does not scare for it is neither exterior nor permanent. This only leaves it to be an internal feeling, and according to Dickinson that is where all the “Meanings” lie. There’s no way for this feeling to be explained, all that is known is that it is the “Seal Despair”, and an “imperial affliction”. These descriptions have a rather powerful connotation in showing the oppressive nature of his sentiment. There is an official mark of despair and an imperial affliction