Poetry is an artistic portrayal of
language. It originally evolved from the rhythm of the voice, rooted from the
oral tradition, into a written text with its “extraordinary [....] selection of
words it uses and in its metrical rhythms.” (Muller,Williams, 2003, p.48) In a sense, poetry has the power to provoke
feelings that move hearts, win minds and inspire people into action. With this in mind, Emily Dickinson wittily
defines poetry as such: “If I read a
book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me I know that is
poetry. If I feel physically as if the
top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only way I know it. Is there any other way?” ( Mulvihill, 2013)
Even today, Intrigued readers see Emily
Dickinson can still baffle and create challenging expectations in what a poem
is all about. Her writing style has
captivated her readers with her title-less
lyric
poems that are not only literary innovative, but captures impressions of
particular moments, scenes, or moods that focuses on nature, love, immorality,
death, faith, doubt, pain and the self.
In the following paragraphs, some of Dickinson's writing characteristics
will be illuminated through her poetry, along with her biography. (vcu.edu,
2013 )
It was not until 1955, when Thomas Johnson
published Dickinson's complete works and attempted to reformed its true
manuscript vision, that the reader had the opportunity to be graced with her
writing style. Until then, there has
only been seven or so poems printed in her life time; the ones that were
printed, were never prepared for publication.
The poem that were published, the early editors took the liberty in
alternating her poems in the traditional nineteenth century style by giving
them titles, rearranging the poem's syntax, normalizing grammar,
capitalization, while deleting her famous elliptical lines and dashes into a
more readable conventional nineteenth century expectation. In other words, they felt uncomfortable with
her unique writing technique, and could not appreciate her gem-like imagery and
unexpected metaphors that penetrated her poems. (vcu.edu, 2013 )
Born December 10,1930, in Amherst,
Massachusetts, her prominent and prosperous family resided at the 'Homestead'
with her paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, one of founders of Amherst
College. In 1940, Samuel Dickinson had a temporary financial
collapse caused by the expenditure of the Amherst College and loss the
Homestead. At nine of age, along with
her younger sister, Lavina, her older brother Austin, and parents moved to a
house on North Pleasant Street in Amherst.
Emily spent most of her happy adolescence and young adulthood at North
pleasant until her father repurchased the Homestead 1855. There she remained until her death, May
15,1986. (english.illinois.edu, 2013)
All the Dickinson males were lawyers with
political ambitions; whereby, her father eventually became a congressman. Her
home was a center of Amherst society and the site of annual Amherst College
commencement receptions. Growing up in
an academic family, Emily's father Edward, made sure his children had a well
rounded education, however, he was very strict what type literature was allowed
in the home. Walt Whitman, was one
example, was not allowed and considered 'inappropriate'. With this said, Emily never new in her life
time, that she, along with Walt Whitman, where actually paving a path to modern
day poetry. (english.illinois.edu, 2013)
During Emily's youth years, Calvinist
revivals became popular and swept the nation.
Initially, it was exciting to be part the religious gathering, but over
time she realized that she no longer wanted to be a participant, worshiping
became more satisfying at home. The
privacy and relationship with God, were
instead expressed in her poetry. (english.illinois.edu, 2013)
As very independent, vibrant, hopeful young
woman, Emily felt her calling for poetry.
She discovered works of William Wordsworth and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Tutored by her father's friend and lawyer Benjamin Newton, he encouraged
Emily's passion and writing of poetry.
Newton died from tuberculosis while Emily was still young. (english.illinois.edu,
2013)
Emily seclusion became gradual. Deaths
and departures of mentors and of friends had taken away some of her
emotional spirit. When her mother's
health began to fail, Emily became more and more home bound. Withdrawing further in conclusion, made Emily
more productive in her poetry writing.
The added conservatory to the Homestead and having her room also made it
advantageous for her year round gardening, letter writings and rewriting of her
poems. (english.illinois.edu, 2013)
In addition to her confidant friend and
sister-in-law, Susan Dickinson, Emily Dickinson had only one other critic in
her life time, Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
He not only was an American minister, author, abolitionist and soldier,
he also wrote a piece encouraging new writers in the Atlantic Monthly. Emily began sending many of her poems to him
to critique, knowing from his pass writings he was sympathetic to female
writers. He ultimately became her
mentor. (english.illinois.edu, 2013)
Dickinson's subject matter could be best
reflected on her life's experiences, education, and her wonderful
imagination. Her simplified life that
dealt with doing without actually meant doing within her creative mind. We presumed reading the Bible, Shakespeare,
and seventeen century metaphysical and natural sciences may have come from the
family library, allowing her to bring individuality to her observation of
nature for itself. (english.illinois.edu, 2013)
Reading Emily Dickinson's poems out loud,
one can hear the rhythm and sound that Dickinson might have heard in her time
from musical forms such as ballads and hymns.
Dickinson's poems usually slows
down, speeds up, interrupts itself, holds its breath and sometimes trails
off. The reader is guided through the poem by her stanza forms,
typically quatrains and her unusual emphasis on words either by capitalization
or line position. Some of the common
forms of hymn meter ( counts syllables only, not feet) that Dickinson used are common meter (a line
of eight syllables followed by a line of six syllables, repeating in quatrains
of an 8/6/8/6 pattern). Unlike ballad
meter , quatrains are typically closed, meaning the first and third lines will
rhyme as well as the second and fourth.
Dickinson took liberty with the meter, many time she used 'enjambment'
where one line of poetry runs over to the next without stopping. A good example of this “I cannot live with
you” Dickinson writes the second stanza in the following:
The Sexton keeps the key
to -
Putting up
Our Life – His Porcelain
-
Like a Cup -
(“I
cannot live with you”, 2006, p. 105)
In
the poem “I cannot live with you”, the above stanza Dickinson breaks the first
line after a preposition and before a direct object; in both places one would
not punctuate with a comma, semicolon, or a dash, and there would be no pause.
Dickinson syntax is problematic, try
filling in the blanks, the poem are so compressed. She also uses dashes often stand for the
reader to pause or for punctuation, or bridges between sections of the
poem. Both the uses of dashes and the
use of capitals to stress and personify common noun is one method that
Dickinson uses with all her poems. In
most Dickinson's lyric poetry, the speaker single speaker is identified as I,
the reader has to be careful, her poetry
does not speak for the poet herself.
It could be a spirit such as in "I heard a Fly buzz- when I
died-" (“I heard a Fly buzz- when I died-”, 2006, p. 103) Sometimes poems use slant rhymes and sound
rhymes, as an example as in Dickinson's “A narrow Fellow in the Grass”: the end
rhyme of the second and fourth lines in each stanza, where the line are too
short to create much of the sense of repeated beginning sounds, therefore,
slant lines are nearly, but not exactly the same sounds such as “rides” and
“is, “Seen” and “on”, “Corn” and “ Noon”, “Sun” and “gone”. Finally Dickinson
is a master for metaphors. Dickinson's
poem “A narrow Fellow in the Grass” uses
similes such as “narrow Fellow” is a snake, or “ The Grass divides as with a
Comb-”. ( “A narrow Fellow in the Grass”, p.107).
Emily Dickinson indeed intrigues readers
while baffling and creating challenging expectations in each poem. Her writing style is captivating, innovative,
and captures impressions of particular moments of the human senses. Emily is by far an intelligent independent
woman poet of her time. Tell tell the
truth, but tell it slant -
Success
in Circuit Lies
too
Bright for our infirm Delight
The
Truth's superb surprise
As
Lighting to the Children eased
With
explanation kind
The
Truth must dazzle gradually
Or
every man be blind -
(
“tell the truth, but tell it slant”, p.108).
Mulvihill, J. (2013) Why Dickinson Didn't
Title
retrieved February 15, 2013 from
University of Illinois website
Muller
G.H.,Williams J.A. (2003) Writing About
Poetry
(p 48 - 200) Ways In – Approaches to
Reading and Writing about Literature and Film, 2nd edition,
McGraw Hill, United States of America
Manson,
M.L. (2011, November 1) Emily Dickinson and Hymn Culture: Tradition and
Experience (review)
Retrieved February 16, 2013 from JHU
website
http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/emily_dickinson_journal/v020/20.1.manson.pdf
Campbell
D. (2010, November 24) Common Questions on Emily Dickinson
Retrieved February 16, 2013
from Washington State University website
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/common.html
