Emily Dickinson was born October 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. Dickinson is known for her poetry. She is said to be one of the great American poets. People believed that Dickinson was a dark person because most of her poems were about death. However, she did write some poems that had very deep meanings and did not pertain to death. An example of this is her poem "The Brain- is Wilder than the Sky". This poem starts out comparing the brain and the sky. It states "The one the other will contain". when it says this it could be interpreted that the Brain has s similar capacity to the sky, which is endless. The brain has the ability to contain all things and knowledge. The brain is the most powerful thing in the world because all ideas and man made inventions come from the brain. The poem goes on to explain how the brain is deeper than the sea. this is meaning that the brain is has the ability to process things in a complex way and is what makes people think in a deeper way to understand more. The poem compares the brain as "Sponges". This could be interpreted that the brain can easily absorb things. For example, babies and young children pick up on things very easy and learn to talk and understand a language when they are very young.
One poem that Emily Dickinson wrote that does pertain to death is called "Because I Could not Stop for Death". it reads "Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me – The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality. We slowly drove – He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility – We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess – in the Ring – We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain – We passed the Setting Sun – Or rather – He passed us – The Dews drew quivering and chill – For only Gossamer, my Gown – My Tippet – only Tulle." This poem can be interpreted that people live their lives in a way that is too fast and they don't have time for the little things. This is what Dickinson thought in her life. What if she was alive now? She would be amazed by how fast everything happens, how people don't take time to enjoy the little things and how it seems that death comes so quickly in peoples lives.
Hi Tyler!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading our blog! I think you did an amazing job explaining the difference between Dickinson's poems. I think you explained the he poem “The Brain- is Wider than the Sky” and the message that Dickinson was trying to get across. The idea that the brain is amazing and contain so much information and that we should take advantage of it!
I think it’s super interesting how some of her poems can be optimistics and happy while others can be dark and depressing. Another poem that is about death is called “ I heard a Fly Buzz- when I Died”. In this poem she describing this “moment” that a person dies and their thoughts and feelings about it. She explains how death is calm, quiet and was the “ like the stillness in the air”. How this person supposedly isn’t afraid of death and is ready. But then she talks about this annoying fly buzzing around this person's face. WIth this fly she is projecting this uncertainty, the person thinks that death will be majestic! But instead focuses on this stupid fly that becomes between this person and the light. Eventually this person dies and she leaves you with a feeling of emptiness and this little fly. Just like the poem you discussed, she can be very depressing and sad, but i think it shows who Dickinson was as a poet and the things that she thought about.
Hi Tyler!
ReplyDeleteI think you chose a great writer for this weeks blog post! Emily Dickinson was a great writer and wrote thousands of poems in her lifetime. While a great majority of them were about death, like you mentioned, there were also some positive ones in her collection too. I actually kind of admire the inspiration that she takes from death. The fact that she writes about it so much really shows us her innermost feelings towards the world and what she thinks death entails. I think that Emily Dickinson was in some ways trying to shed light on the irony of death; the fact that we, as a society, are so afraid of it but we don't actually know the entirety of it. In many of her poems she expresses death as an unknown factor in life. I think that this also shows us what other people during her time might have felt but just never put in words like Dickinson so eloquently did. She is a great representative for all people who question the popular notion of life and death. Even today she is affecting our minds and hearts with her poems. Overall great choice this week Tyler!
Hi Tyler!
ReplyDeleteI greatly enjoyed reading your analysis of Emily Dickinson and her poetry. I particularly like her poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" as well. I think you have a wonderful interpretation of the poem--saying that she is expressing the idea of living life too fast.
My interpretation of the poem is perhaps a more literal one. I see Dickinson as explaining what she thought would happen when Death came for her. When she explains that she could not stop for him, instead he came for her, I see her as saying she was trying to run from him for fear of the unknown but he eventually finds her. When she speaks of him passing the schoolyard, the fields of grain, and the setting sun, I see them as slowly moving through her life, saying Death wanted her to look back to the uncertain life she lived, making their trek towards her death a slow one. Then finally, she recalls the gown she is wearing, the veil over her face, realizing that her trip was one towards eternity.
Overall, the poem seems a melancholy, or somber one, when I read it. It is amazing the different interpretations people have of the same piece of literature.
Overall, great job Tyler!