Emily Dickinson Poems
Ms. Dickinson is a very darn interesting young woman in the best way possible. She experiments with different types of topics in her works such as death, love, sex and of course nature. One of her best qualities which she portrays through her writing is her vivid choice of words to describe her subject. For example, in her poem “I like a look of Agony” she uses words such as sham, convulsion, simulate, throe, glaze, beads and strung to have her readers create an anxiety provoking image of despair. She compares the pains of childbirth to those of a dying person and their last uttmost breaths. This is seen through the sweat beading up on their forehead which is actually quite unattractive, but then again who really cares how the fuck you look when youre dying. Sort of reminds me of a saying my mother once told me, “depending on the actions you lived your life by, death will soon reciprocate those same actions”. I also love how Dickinson strategically places dashes either in the middle or end of her lines to depict when and how time is going by as we read the poem. Her mysterious nature is shown throughout her works which captivates me even more and actually empowers me to step out of my own comfort zone and explore the outside world of creative writing.
2 responses so far
I liked how you talked about Dickinson’s choice of words when creating descriptions in her poems because that is one of my favorite things about Dickinson as a poet. I think her use of comparisons, as you mentioned, not only creates vivid imagery but it also creates an effective and believable tone for the poem. One of my favorite poems by her is #809, where the purposes of a coffin and a grave are explained as greater than the holders of a physical body. She suggests that how a coffin affects a person’s spirit speaks more to a coffin’s value than what it is physically used for, creating a dark, mysterious tone for the poem.
– Sabrina Rodriguez
I agree, Dickinson was a captivating poet. I’m not usually goos with poetry, but just reading her work is intriguing and is often beautiful. I may not understand it all right away but her diction and comparisons are striking. Her poem, “258” has special meaning for me because one of my favorite novels’ title comes from the first line (A Certain Slant of Light). After reading the poem, I found that the novels theme fit in with the poem. It was a great surprise.