Use Of Sight In Dickinsons Work
Hoque, Tarongoy, Velez 1
Tahasin Hoque, Nathan Tarongoy, Victoria Velez
Bynum
Honors English II
October 10th, 2014
The Use of Sight in Dickinson’s Poems
Emily Dickinson is a highly admired poet who never left the house, but still managed to write several iconic poems. She lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life, afraid her emotions might betray her mind. Two of her poems known as “We grow accustomed to the Dark” and
“Before I got my eye put out”, both use the same concept of eyesight. Although both poems use the same concept, the two poems do not use eyesight for the same purpose. Dickinson uses the concept of vision through figurative language in “We grow accustomed to the Dark”, and literal language in her poem, “Before I got my eye put out”.
Though both “We grow accustomed to the Dark” and “Before I got my eye put out” use sight imagery, they both have their own distinct theme. For “We grow accustomed to the Dark”, its theme is to always stay hopeful, no matter how bad or ‘dark’ events may get. In Stanza 3, it is stated that dark events in life will always be an obstacle, but how it is fought is what can conquer the darkness. Furthermore, this theme is supported by the quote, “Either the Darkness Alters Or something in the sight, Adjust itself to midnight and life steps almost straight”, from Stanza 5.
This quote means that one must “adjust” to hardships, in order to continue onto a normal life. In
“We grow accustomed to the Dark” the poem is more figurative. Dickinson uses figurative language to further describe the theme of the poem.
Hoque, Tarongoy, Velez 2
The two poems “Before I got my eye put out” and “We grow accustomed to the Dark” both deal with darkness, but both have different meanings. In the poem “Before I got my eye put out” vision represents ownership. When you lose your sight you gain introspection. Introspection is the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes. In “Before I
Tahasin Hoque, Nathan Tarongoy, Victoria Velez
Bynum
Honors English II
October 10th, 2014
The Use of Sight in Dickinson’s Poems
Emily Dickinson is a highly admired poet who never left the house, but still managed to write several iconic poems. She lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life, afraid her emotions might betray her mind. Two of her poems known as “We grow accustomed to the Dark” and
“Before I got my eye put out”, both use the same concept of eyesight. Although both poems use the same concept, the two poems do not use eyesight for the same purpose. Dickinson uses the concept of vision through figurative language in “We grow accustomed to the Dark”, and literal language in her poem, “Before I got my eye put out”.
Though both “We grow accustomed to the Dark” and “Before I got my eye put out” use sight imagery, they both have their own distinct theme. For “We grow accustomed to the Dark”, its theme is to always stay hopeful, no matter how bad or ‘dark’ events may get. In Stanza 3, it is stated that dark events in life will always be an obstacle, but how it is fought is what can conquer the darkness. Furthermore, this theme is supported by the quote, “Either the Darkness Alters Or something in the sight, Adjust itself to midnight and life steps almost straight”, from Stanza 5.
This quote means that one must “adjust” to hardships, in order to continue onto a normal life. In
“We grow accustomed to the Dark” the poem is more figurative. Dickinson uses figurative language to further describe the theme of the poem.
Hoque, Tarongoy, Velez 2
The two poems “Before I got my eye put out” and “We grow accustomed to the Dark” both deal with darkness, but both have different meanings. In the poem “Before I got my eye put out” vision represents ownership. When you lose your sight you gain introspection. Introspection is the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes. In “Before I