An Analysis of Emily Dickinson

An Analysis of Emily Dickinson

Studying the poetry of Dickinson is like journeying through the poet’s life. I spare no compliment and sympathy to compare Dickinson to a lost angel, who descended upon the world but was wounded by the foul realities. With philosophical monologue and lasting words, she left the world the charm of loneliness, wisdom, and desperate love.

“Emily the Belle of Amherst” had an adored childhood in an idyllic town with her well-off family, just like the beginning of many fairy tales. But her rebellious nature gradually manifested itself through her refusal to attend church, resulting in a breakdown in her relationship with her parents. She gradually withdrew from society, closing the door to both her home and heart. I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you-Nobody-Too?
The soul selects her own society-
Then-shut the door

These two poems convey Dickinson’s value placed on solitude and her attitude towards fame. Publishing only nine of nearly eight hundred poems in her lifetime, Dickinson and her work were far from prominent in society at the time. It is unclear, however, whether this was a misfortune or a choice of her own accord. In her thirties, she fled social reality to lead a hermit life of reclusion. Her work The soul select her own society can be seen as a solemn ritual ceremonious of this transition. Since zthat time, she refused to wear clothing of the slightest color but white, turning away most visitors and keeping herself locked for days. From the moment her “Valves of her attention” were shut down, she had already excluded most people from her consciousness, barring a certain chosen few. However, the transition didn’t alleviate adversity in any sense. She witnessed the successive death of beloved friends and family from the 1870s to 1880s, which made her even more isolated. Her resulting search for companionship is painstakingly depicted in I died for beauty:

He questioned softly “Why I failed?”
“For beauty,” I replied-
“And I – for Truth – Themselves are One
We Brethren, are”, He said-

She even recounts an intimate conversation between herself and a fictitious soul mate. They enjoyed each other’s company and were immersed in dialogue for days and nights, until—

Until the moss had reached our lips-
And covered up- our names-

Scholars have debated whether the last stanza constitutes a calm, pleasing ending or an omen of her lifelong loneliness. The poet expresses her yearn for companionship romantically – nowhere else could she find a real friend but in the tomb, implying that she pinned her hopes of spiritual belonging to the afterlife. Clearly, Dickinson was in a state of tremendous loneliness, as the moss crept up to the two corpses, with both her voice (reached our lips) and identity (covered up our names) obliterated for good.

Loneliness is nothing but a thirst for love. Love, for Dickinson, was an ultimate pursuit. She lived for love and died for love. This contrasts with Russell’s notion of love - that it has the marvelous power to “bring ecstasy and relieve loneliness ”. Rather, Dickinson found love to be ardent, desperate, but sober-minded.

In “If you were coming in the Fall”, the plain, mild words conveyed her longing for her loved ones. Like an obedient ”little women”, the persona would willingly wait for her fancy man with all her heart. She “wound the months in balls and collected them carefully”, in case “the number fuse”. One can even picture Dickinson’s silhouette seated beside her desk drawer, counting the dates and wondering when she could see “him” again. Such a bittersweet scene! But as the poem proceeds, anxiety and grievance are revealed in the stanza:

But, now, uncertain of the length
Of this, that is between,
If goads me, like the Goblin Bee-
That will not state-its sting.

Not only could she not foresee her next meeting, but neither could she reveal who she was missing so badly. Scholars have assumed that her lover must have been Reverend Charles Wadsworth, one of the few visitors of the poet and an admired male friend. Whoever the “he” is, his absence is akin to a bee sting, nconspicuous but painful, bothersome and lasting. Dickinson shared the prickling pain and perturbed all her readers, just as Goethe “told the sorrow and let the world weep for him” in <The Sorrows of Young Werther>.

With growing age Dickinson’s tone became increasingly compelling. Unlike most female writers, she favored grotesque, even odd figures.

My life had stood- a Loaded Gun-
In corners- till a day
The owner passed- identified-
And carried Me away-
…
though I than He- may longer live
He longer must- than I-
For I have but the power to kill,
Without- the power to die.

In love, Dickinson doesn’t hesitate to be anything, even if a vigorless gun. She accompanied her master in each of his brave deeds on the battlefield; she witnessed his most glorious moment – a heroic suicide, but she (the gun) takes on an existence without significance after her master’s death. What makes the story more tragic was the fact that the gun couldn’t even take its own life. In this thought-provoking poem, the poet reflects on the gender inequality inherent in relationships. The heroine’s love was ardent and selfless, but that doesn’t change the fact that women are always affiliated to men. She hears the deafening sound of a gunshot echoing in the last stanza, followed by a desperate silence. Such kind of deep reflection showed that however avid and devoted she was, Dickinson had a rational understanding of love, rare amongst women of her time.

With her insightful vision and profound thinking, Dickinson left many homilies on success and the self. As previously mentioned, she was immensely private and introverted, but her views were clear and insightful.

Success is counted sweetest,
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

This is an accurate portrayal of her state of being, justifying how she could live her own reclusive life in a world where most people are obsessed with the pursuit of fame. In “I’m nobody! Who are you?”, she challenged the social climbers by comparing them to a frog’s croak. Through sarcasm, she silences these people with a bold, even cynical, rhetoric.
It’s a meaningful question to ask why Dickinson, a reclusive poet, wrote so many aphorism. In my opinion, her poetry are far more than lonely monologues but means to universalize her personal feelings. She shared thoughts with her readers in the hope that they would understand her and effect change for the future.

She has been remarkably successful in this endeavour, with her literary prowess rendering her one of America’s greatest poets. Dickinson’s poetry embodies teachings on quintessential elements of the human condition – on the power gained from loneliness, the ardent but rational love, as well as on identity and fame. It is this angelical beauty and treasures of wisdom that she leaves the world.