We Grow Accustomed to the Dark...

We grow accustomed to the dark... Darkness is a recurring image in literature that evokes a universal unknown, yet is often entrenched in many meanings. A master poet, Emily Dickinson employs darkness as a metaphor many times throughout her poetry. In “We grow accustomed to the dark” (#428) she talks of the “newness” that awaits when we “fit our Vision to the Dark.” As enigmatic and shrouded in mystery as the dark she explores, Dickinson's poetry seems our only door to understanding the recluse. As she wrote to her friend T.W. Higginson on April 15, 1862, “the Mind is so near itself – it cannot see, distinctly”(Letters 253). In this musing, she acquiesces to a notion that man remains locked in an internal struggle with himself. This inner conflict is brought to light through a metaphorical darkness that pervades many of her poems. Evidenced by the sheer breadth of her poetry she penned throughout her life, it is clear Dickinson indulged and withdrew often into the inner realm of her own mind. The darkness is an interesting metaphor because it represents a dichotomy between an internal and external. Poem 428 illustrates both as the darkness acts as a barrier against understanding, while at the same time a limitless passage to potential knowledge. As a poet, Dickinson meticulously fashions her poems. Each word, each capitalization, each rhyme scheme – the dash – is a device carefully calculated and chosen. The dash is rarely reflected on since Dickinson tends to utilize the punctuation in every poem. However, in poem 428, the formatting is essential to the meaning. What do the dashes mean? The punctuation – dash – has the power to immediately interrupt the flow of a sentence. Dashes indicate pauses – ends – places to wait – sometimes nothingness. Nothingness is what the darkness contains. Isn't nothingness an unknown? As we read the poem we pause at every turn, commanded to do so by the dash - indicative of inner conflict. Our minds subconsciously repeat this