Week 8 Analysis
Emily Dickinson
I've decided to do a close reading on Emily Dickinson's poems. I chose this because these poems interested me the most. When I first start off with reading Poem 216, I wasn't too sure what to think. I didn't understand the poem enough to know what the author meant by it. The more I read the more I starting thinking about the quote, "Safe in their alabaster chambers - untouched by morning and untouched by noon."(Dickinson 482) I have a feeling since the main theme of her poems was death that it was involved in this. I think the author was going in the direction of almost being born again. Her old self is "safe in their alabaster chambers" and a new version of herself is arising.
Poem 303
"The Soul selects her own Society- Then - Shuts the door-" (Dickinson 483) I think the author using the word "soul" because it holds a lot of power. It gives you a sense of independence from the women in the poem, almost like she doesn't need her society, so she shuts the door on them.
Poem 449
The most interesting thing about this poem for me is, when the man thinks dying for the truth and dying for beauty is the same thing. Is it? I am not sure. Dickinson must think so since she is writing about it, or maybe that's what she wants us to think.
Poem 632
I loved this poem because it is very uplifting, for Emily Dickinson, at least. "The brain- is wider than the sky-" (Dickinson 486) This poem was meant to be a eye opener to people that they don't have a capacity for knowledge. This poem made me think of a growth mindset, because it is true that there is no limit on what our brains can learn.
Poem 712
The "death" theme continues. This poem is all about the speaker leading up to have a date with "death." We ultimately find out that she actually died years and years ago but like to reminiscence on the times she had. I'm not exactly sure what the author meant for this poem. I got the idea that maybe she was ready to die, or that she wasn't afraid. She knew that death was inevitable, so why bothering trying to outrun it?
I've decided to do a close reading on Emily Dickinson's poems. I chose this because these poems interested me the most. When I first start off with reading Poem 216, I wasn't too sure what to think. I didn't understand the poem enough to know what the author meant by it. The more I read the more I starting thinking about the quote, "Safe in their alabaster chambers - untouched by morning and untouched by noon."(Dickinson 482) I have a feeling since the main theme of her poems was death that it was involved in this. I think the author was going in the direction of almost being born again. Her old self is "safe in their alabaster chambers" and a new version of herself is arising.
Poem 303
"The Soul selects her own Society- Then - Shuts the door-" (Dickinson 483) I think the author using the word "soul" because it holds a lot of power. It gives you a sense of independence from the women in the poem, almost like she doesn't need her society, so she shuts the door on them.
Poem 449
The most interesting thing about this poem for me is, when the man thinks dying for the truth and dying for beauty is the same thing. Is it? I am not sure. Dickinson must think so since she is writing about it, or maybe that's what she wants us to think.
Poem 632
I loved this poem because it is very uplifting, for Emily Dickinson, at least. "The brain- is wider than the sky-" (Dickinson 486) This poem was meant to be a eye opener to people that they don't have a capacity for knowledge. This poem made me think of a growth mindset, because it is true that there is no limit on what our brains can learn.
Poem 712
The "death" theme continues. This poem is all about the speaker leading up to have a date with "death." We ultimately find out that she actually died years and years ago but like to reminiscence on the times she had. I'm not exactly sure what the author meant for this poem. I got the idea that maybe she was ready to die, or that she wasn't afraid. She knew that death was inevitable, so why bothering trying to outrun it?
Hi Megan! I enjoyed reading you take on Emily Dickinson's poetry. I too had a hard time at first understanding her poetry. I like that you went into detail about what you think that poem was about. I agree with what you said about poem 632 about not having a limit on our learning. I also agree that poem 712 is about a date with death in a way. Great job on your analysis!
ReplyDeleteHey Megan. Being that this is a close reading analysis, I feel like it might have been better to simply pick your favorite poem written by Emily Dickinson or maybe even your least favorite and analyze every small little detail of that poem. That aside, I felt like your interpretations of each of her poems were reasonable and made sense given what she wrote. As for poem 712, I feel like death is one of Emily Dickinson's favorite topics because of how it's involved in almost all of her poems haha.
ReplyDeleteHello Megan, I enjoyed reading your week eight analysis. I was the same way when first reading the poems because I too was not understanding it too much. I liked that you added your thoughts on the first quotes which you said you weren't fully sure of their meaning because it's interestung to see what someone else thought of the quote while reading it. Nice job on the analysis.
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