Dickinson's Poem 508

The theme of Poem 508 Im ceded Ive stopped being Theirs- is the exploration of the narrators growth from childhood to adulthood, through the development of spiritual consciousness.

The reader is immediately made aware that the narrator has undergone a dramatic change. With the use of the word ceded, there is the sense that something has been given away. It is usually territory that is the object of this verb and so its unusual application to a person captures the readers attention. Furthermore, it is punctuated by Dickinsons familiar dash which isolates and emphasises it as if it were followed by an exclamation mark. This expression appears to be an exclamation of relief to be freed from the obligations of the expectations of her parents and this interpretation is supported by her statement -Ive stopped being Theirs-. This is a strong, almost defiant statement, which seems to be a declaration of liberation and individual existence and
The narrator has been selected by God to be saved from Original Sin and the magnitude and significance of this cannot be overstated. It is evident from many of her poems that Dickinson despises the way in which the Calvinist community placed a greater importance on religious ceremony than on the meaning behind it. The narrator therefore appears grateful that God has recognised her inner spirituality over the ostentatious actions of others which can lack sincerity. The narrators contemplation throughout the poem results in her coming to a conclusion at the end. This is reflected by the rhyme scheme of the poem; whilst the first and second stanzas lack an apparent rhyming sequence, Dickinson employs rhyme and off-rhyme in the third stanza, demonstrating a subtle movement towards a more harmonious existence, thus ending with the optimistic sense of