Emily Dickinson's 1593

Emily Dickinson's poem “1593,” describes an intense storm similar to a hurricane. The subject initially appears to be a “Wind” as presented in the first line of the poem, but the by looking at the poem as a whole this wind appears to be only one part of the larger storm, which also seems to present the powerful and destructive force of nature. The language of the poem presents a certain amount of ambiguity concerning the perspective of the speaker towards this storm. Through diction and connotation, personification, and form, the speaker’s fear for the storm and its destruction become clear, yet at the same time the speaker appears to be awestruck and mesmerized by the sheer power of nature in relation to humankind. The speaker’s use of diction