Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church
Megan McCullough
Briejer
English 101
15 April 2013
Emily Dickinson “Some Keep the Sabbath Going To Church” In the poem “Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church,” Emily Dickinson expresses the feeling that everybody practices their faith and religion in a different way. The narrator of this poem portrays the idea of self practice. Being able to completely understand and interpret the meaning of this piece of poetry was not a short and simple process. When first reading “Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church” I was a little confused and unaware of what was happening in the reading. However, in the end I came to realize the poem had a much bigger meaning than just a person sitting in their backyard with the birds. To begin, my first thought of this poem was mostly confusion due to Emily Dickinson’s diction. Throughout the poem, Emily used words that I was unfamiliar with, such as “bobolink” and “chorister” in the first stanza. After finding definitions for the unknown words the interpretation process became much simpler. I first thought Emily’s poem was about a person who believed they don’t need to attend church because they have all the basic needs right in their yard. Dickinson’s use of so many metaphors led me to understand that she believes she has everything such as a “bobolink,” songbird, to replace the choir and her orchard working as a church dome. Before fully interpreting this piece of poetry, I gathered information about Emily herself and the time period this poem was written. Due to the fact it was written in 1862, I changed my thoughts about the poem. In 1862 it was seen as very sacred and holy to attend church, so for the narrator to go against that tradition made me change my thoughts. At that moment, I had swayed more towards the idea of the narrator practicing her religion twice. Once on Sunday in church and also practicing in the peace and quiet of her own backyard in her orchard and the wildlife. However, I further studied
Briejer
English 101
15 April 2013
Emily Dickinson “Some Keep the Sabbath Going To Church” In the poem “Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church,” Emily Dickinson expresses the feeling that everybody practices their faith and religion in a different way. The narrator of this poem portrays the idea of self practice. Being able to completely understand and interpret the meaning of this piece of poetry was not a short and simple process. When first reading “Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church” I was a little confused and unaware of what was happening in the reading. However, in the end I came to realize the poem had a much bigger meaning than just a person sitting in their backyard with the birds. To begin, my first thought of this poem was mostly confusion due to Emily Dickinson’s diction. Throughout the poem, Emily used words that I was unfamiliar with, such as “bobolink” and “chorister” in the first stanza. After finding definitions for the unknown words the interpretation process became much simpler. I first thought Emily’s poem was about a person who believed they don’t need to attend church because they have all the basic needs right in their yard. Dickinson’s use of so many metaphors led me to understand that she believes she has everything such as a “bobolink,” songbird, to replace the choir and her orchard working as a church dome. Before fully interpreting this piece of poetry, I gathered information about Emily herself and the time period this poem was written. Due to the fact it was written in 1862, I changed my thoughts about the poem. In 1862 it was seen as very sacred and holy to attend church, so for the narrator to go against that tradition made me change my thoughts. At that moment, I had swayed more towards the idea of the narrator practicing her religion twice. Once on Sunday in church and also practicing in the peace and quiet of her own backyard in her orchard and the wildlife. However, I further studied
Cited: Dickinson, Emily. "Some Keep The Sabbath Going To Church." Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008. 639. Print.