Homework 30/jul

Dickinson uses her poetry to explore what it means to be human …

In the poems of Emily Dickinson, humanity is a major aspect that connects itself to other themes explored including
religion, death, nature. The meaning of human existence is tightly knit with such ideas, and while she uses humanity as a
subject to reflect on the wider themes, the poems all do serve to reflect some aspect of her exploration of what she
perceives humans are. In her poem ‘A certain Slant of light’ the poem draws on the inevitable melancholy of humans
despite the promised light that religion serves to bring. In the poem, A Still volcano life, humans to exist all with hidden
potential and power. On the other hand the Poem ‘I could not stop for death’ explores human existence in relation to
death, commenting on human existence in the afterlife where immortality is something humanity has to experience.

In her poem "A Certain Slant of Light", Emily Dickinson delves into the meaning of human existence by portraying the
depressing nature of being bound to religious beliefs despite their purpose to bring hope and light. This confusion
ultimately leads to a questioning of the meaning of life itself. From the very beginning of the poem, there are conflicting
emotions of hope and subtle depression that are present with the imagery of light, which usually has warm connotations.
However, in this case, the warm atmosphere is contradicted by the "winter afternoon" that feels chilly and somber, thus
acknowledging the mixed feelings felt by the persona. The "Heft of Cathedral tunes" is used to describe cathedral
melodies that possess a sound that is burdensome, as indicated by the word "heft". This description implies that the tunes
are oppressive like the winter afternoon. The direct religious references tie the aspects of religion that usually bring joy,
such as the church tunes, and hope associated with light to the emotion of depression. Similarly the tone of the poem is
also reflected in the poem’s strcture. The dashes cut through the lines midway to create breaks mirroring the confusion
and interruption of the mind. Through the use of these conflicting emotions and religious references, Dickinson attempts to
explore the complexities of human existence in relation to religious belief. It is clear that she believes that the weight of
religion can be oppressive and confusing, and that this confusion can ultimately lead to a questioning of the meaning of
life itself. This exploration of the human condition is common in dickinsons poetry, often a reflection of her own view on the
society she lived in.

In Dickinson's poem a still life a volcano, Dickinson explores ideas about human existence through the extended
metaphor of the volcano, exploring the wonders of human existence due to the immense power they can possess. In the
poem the primary reading is the metaphorical allusion to Mount Vesuvius which is a powerful metaphor to indicate the
destructiveness of nature. However as Dickinson often does so, the natural world is used as a parallel to humans. In the
imagery of the volcano, evident in Dickinsons’ descriptions, the volcano is subtle in it’s build up to eruption- ‘Flickering’,
and ‘Without erasing sight’. it appears most of the day but at night flickers with life. It is deceptive as it is often seen as a
mountain, but under the cover of the darkness it reveals it’s true power. When the volcano is personified, to be ‘Hissing’
‘too subtle to suspect’ a feeling of stealth and sinister character is portrayed via the sibilance, indicating the association of
the volcano to people. meanwhile the oozing cities indicate the potential of destruction it holds, more as a measure of the
extent of the power that is released of people or the persona. Emily Dickinsons works were mostly done away from the
sight of society, and her poetry craft was often carried out in the time of night. Therefore the extended metaphor is likely a
direct reflection of her self, and her existence to be someone that is away from society, but nevertheless the power of
literacy is able to allow herself to have spurs of energy that carries her through the rest of her life and to have meaning in
life. With the reference to the ‘Lips that never Lie’, there are oblique sexual references that make sense too with the
imagery of the volcano and the dark atmosphere, suggesting hidden power in the aspect of lust. whether it is a comment
on Society as a whole or the poet herself, the various readings of the volcano image, they could be intentionally written to
show the different types of powers that humans possess that is unseen and hidden, and often underestimated in the
contribution to people’s lives.

finally in the poem ‘because I could not stop for death’ the meaning of being a human is further explored through ideas of
immortality and death often present in Dickinsons’ poems. In the poem, Death and immortality become characters that are
personified. Death, as a gentleman ‘Kindly drove’ for the persona alongside ‘Immortality’. In this first stanza the audience

Homework 30/jul 1
 is instantly placed in the intimate environment of the ‘carriage’, the vividness of the image depicts this peculiar journey,
supposedly the journey from death to afterlife, to be something so realistic. Even the structure of the poem serves to
vividly tell the story of the journey of death in chronological order. The image of the slow driving and kind gentlemen
creates a sense of calmness and a collected feeling despite the terrors that death is associated with. The pauses created
by the dash breaks also serve to slow the tempo of the poem. The sights that the carriage passes including the school,
the grains and setting sun, could be a depiction of the stages of life, or a illustration of the reflection of memories, here
there is a strong sense of nostalgia. With the explicit journey that the persona undergoes in death, to some extent there is
a feeling of reassurance as there is nothing terrifying about death, yet the tone remains mysterious and uneasy. The
persona has to put about her ‘Labour and Leisure’. And live through ‘Centuries’ that feels shorter than the day. There is a
sense of nothingness that overwhelms the persona, creating a feeling of confusion and uncertainty. In the first stanza
when the characters are introduced, ‘And immortality’ is separated with a line consisting of a dash, and ended with a full
stop. The line reflects the questionable existence of immortality, it is something neither terrifying nor joyful. Here Dickinson
provokes a question to the meaning of life and death as part of human existence. Without an explicit answer of an attitude
towards death, just like the emotionless persona travelling from death to afterlife, Dickinson portrays the ambiguous
emotions that humans have in the thought or in the process of death.
In conclusion, human meaning is a major idea that Dickinson explores in the poems she writes. From poems about
nature, death to religion, they all portray ideas on human life’s meaning whether it is a general statement or personal to
herself.

Homework 30/jul 2