Upload
others
View
1
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
BaaERY IN THE POETRY OF EMILY DICKINSON
TEIESIS
Approved:
Approved:
IMAGERY IN THE POETRY OF El!ILY DICKINSON
TBESIS
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate Division of the Texas Technological
College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
^ For the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
by
Imogene F o r t e n b e r r y , B. A
Lubhock, Texas
Augus t , 1950
TEXAS TECHNOLOGICAL COLLEGE LUEBOCK, TEX.'.3 liBRARY
t3 \ ^ 5 0
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments are due Dr, W, B» Gates^
t o whom I am Indebted fo r guidance in the i n i
t i a t i o n and p repara t ion of t h i s t h e s i s , and to
Dr. E. A. G i l l i s and Dr, Oscar A. Kinohen fo r
t h e i r va luable suggest ion in wr i t i ng the s tudy .
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
Introduction i
I. Images from Man and Euman Life 1
1. The Human Body 2
2. Human Relationships and Daily Life IE
3. Amusements, Roads, and Travel 19
4. Household Arts 22
5. Practical Arts and Occupations 31
6. Warfare 58
7. The Fine Arts, Learning, Literature, and Religion 40
II• Images from External Nature 54
1. Animals 54
2. Plants 58
3. The Sky, Earth and Elements 61
4. The Sea and Seafaring 66
III. Imaginative Images and Personifications 70
Conclusion 76
j wiuiLnx IN THE POETRY OF EMILY DICKINSON
INTRODtJCTION
Numerous biographical and fictional v/orks have
been written about Emily Dickinson and the story of
the publications of her letters and poetry, but few
investigations of the nature of her poems have been
made. Recognition of her poetic genius has been
retarded because not all of her manuscripts have
been made available to scholars for study. However,
that fact is not the only reason for her slow rise
to fame, for according to Henry W. Wells:
THe very boldness of Emily's poetry has discouraged the critics. . . • Her poetry has received the tribute of no volume of general appreciation or aesthetic criticism, and even the occasional essays on her work have as a rule wanted sharpness and originality of viewpoint. Highly flattering statements commonly serve to express Emily's unique contribution to literature.-^
One other difficulty v/hich has faced students of
Emily Dickinson* s poetry is the textual one. Some
of the difficulties which her editors have found are
explained to some extent by Mrs. Millicent Todd
Bingham, who inherited the task of editing many of
the poems from her mother, Mrs. Mabel Todd, the
friend of Emily Dickinson and the first editor of
1 H. W. Wells, Introduction to Emil^ Dickinson (Chicago: Packard and Co., 1947), p. n 'ST' TTere-8L?ter referred to as Wells* Introduction.
ii
her poem So The manuscripts were said to be
a Jumble of words on odds and ends of paper, some of it cmcipled and torn. They were not sorted alphabetically, or according to size, or subject matter, or date of composition. Most of them were smothered v/ith alternative words and phrases crowded together into every available space — around the edges, upside down, wedged between the lines. Some poems, filling the margins of drafts of letters to friends, are difficult to distinguish from the body of the letter, following without a break on the same sheet of paper. Many are written on the backs of brownr-paper bags or of discarded bills, programs, and invitations.*^
Fortunately, however, such textual problems
lie beyond the province of the present study, which
proposes to investigate Emily Dickinson*s published
poems in order to note and to analyze the images
which abound in her work, (in nearly every poem are
woven as many as three or four images. Her poetry
is so intrinsically a part of herself that an analysis
of it ultimately becomes a study of her rare person
ality. Imagery forms an integral part of her poetry,
ftrceerding to'~Uer~Tiiece, Madam:e Biancht, who saysi-
**Metaphor is her characteristic figure and paradox
her native tongue.j^ Since poetic imagery is one
of the most characteristic elements of her art, it
rarely appears for purely ornamental detail, but is
2 M. L. Todd end M. T. Bingham, Bolts of Melody (New York: Harper Brothers, ir-5), p. xii. Hereafter referred to as Bolts of relody.
3 M. D. Bianchi and A. L. Hampson, Further Poems of Emily Dickinson (Boston: Little, Brown andUo., Tf2'9), p. xiii. Hereafter referred to as Further
iii
used ep m integral means of expression by which she
could "tell all the truth but tell it slant.***
/The word **image** is used in this thesis as
inclusive of that figurative language usually clas
sified in the study of literature as simile, metaphor,
personification, or other types of figures of speech ])
An image, as used here, connotes an experience, mood,
or sensation kno\vn to the poet. The individuality,
the intensity of an image is one of the factors
making for richness and sensuousness in poetry. A
poet*s imagery can, in many instances, be used as one
criterion of his command of language and his artistry.
In this study of the images in the poems of
Emily Dickinson the primary consideration is that of
content or subject matter of the images and what that
content reveals. Such an investigation will reveal
the range of images used in the poetry, as well as
the tastes, interests, and background of the poet.
The analysis of the word pictures of a poet often
discloses something of the pattern of his thinking.
The content of the images is the objective; therefore
it is not necessary to distinguish among the dif
ferent literary types.
No attempt has been made to consider the poems
in chronological order. Such an endeavor would be
^ Bolts of Melody, p. 233.
i v
rewarding in an account of Miss Dickinson's develop
ment as a poet and as a person, but , except to a
l imi ted ex tent , i t i s not possible to place many of
her poems i n such order . When the manuscripts of
a l l of the poems are made ava i lab le , i t may be pos
s ib le to determine the chronological order of many
because a l l of the poems are in Emily Dickinson's
handwrit ing, and d i s t i n c t i v e changes are noted in
the wri t ing during d i f ferent periods of her l i f e .
The c l a s s i f i c a t i ons to be used in t h i s t hes i s
are based on those which Caroline Spurgeon employed
in her study of Shakespeare's imagery.^ CThe images
in Emily Dickinson's poetry present a wide range of
subject matter Just as Shakespeare's v/orks did^
She was an i n s t i n c t i v e a r t i s t , whose business i t
was **to find forms of expression that did not b lur
her sharp av/areness of fact nor f a i l to rouse a
l a t e n t beauty.*'^ She found those forms of expres
sion in whatever was famil iar or most conveniently
a t hand. Miss Dickinson's vzas a twofold vision of
l i f e — t h a t which she experienced personal ly and
tha t which I sy outside the realm of intimate know
ledge but which she knew from observation, reading,
and hear ing. Y/ells says that her
5 C. F . E, Spurgeon, ShakeSDeere*_s Imagery (Cambridge: Univers i ty P ress , iSS'ufZ
6 G. F, V/hicher, This \.&s a Poet (Charles Scrib-n e r ' s Sons, 1938), p . 159. Hereafter referred to as
self-appointed task as poet and as thinker was to examine personality with microscopic vision, to digest whatever the mind affords in knowledge of the external or the internal v;orld, but ultimately to fix attention only on the eternally hiiman qualities.'''
She became a recluse in her later years, but the fact
that she withdrew from society did not mean that she
ignored the world outside her own narrow sphere of
activities. She was indeed introspective and indi
vidualistic in thought, but other human beings, even
those outside her immediate family and friends,
interested her deeply. She observed life from a
distance and saw it clearly. This twofold outlook
toward life is revealed in her imagery. [A great
number of her images are subjective, but an even
greater number ere taken from man and his activities!
In this thesis are three chapters: one contains
images from man and human life; the second contains
images from nature; and the last contains imaginative
images and personifications. Miss Dickinson's
poetry is elusive and complex. Many poems contain
several images so intricately woven that difficulty
arises in separating them. However, the image which
predominates determines the category in v/hich the
lines are placed. References are then made to sub
sidiary images. So many of Miss Dickinson's poems
are imaginative to such a degree that selecting
7 Wells* Introduction, p. 48,
vi
the images from them is a difficult and an elusive
task, but as thorough an examination of the poems
has been made as possible.
The poems which have been investigated for this
study are found in the following volumes of her
poetry: The Complete Poems f Emily Dickingon,^
Poems by Emily Dickinson.^ Further Poems of Emily
Dickinson, and Bolts of Melody. -
8 M. D. Bianchi, The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (Boston: Lit' Ie, Bro\m and Co.,"T925). Hereafter referred to as Complete Poems.
9 M. D. Bianchi and A. L. iiampson, Poems bj Emily Dickinson (Boston; Little, Brov.Ti and Co., 1945]• Hereaiter referred to as Poems.
10 M. D. Bianchi and A. L. Hampson, ©£. cit. 11 M. L. Todd and M. T. Bingham, 0£. cit.
CHAPTER I
MAN AND HUMAN LIFE
Many of Emily Dickinson's images reveal her
apparent interest in her fellow man and his acti
vities, relationships, and thought. She became a
recluse in later life, turning more and more to a
study of herself and her thought, but she never lost
interest in the affairs of other human beings, as
images dealing with ordinary human relationships
suggest. She looked upon humanity from her secluded
spot on the Dickinson estate and scrutinized it
closely. Wells says of her remote touch with society:
People in the mass and in their public relationships concerned her less, to be sure, than the intimate chambers of the soul. But the,former did concern her. Many romantic writers were actually far more advanced than she in their divorce from social consciousness. Free from the egotistic variety of sentimentality, and if one of the most elusive, at the same time one of the most evasive of mankind, v hat she saw she looked at honestly and clearly. If she was not an active member of society, neither was she taken in by it. . . » Although her thirst for the universal discouraged her from any persistent considerations of manners and public affairs, she v/as far from holding a closed mind to these subjects.-'-
In this chapter are included seven sections: the
human body, its parts and functions; human relation
ships and daily life; amusements, roads and travel;
household arts and clothing and fabrics; practical arts
1 Wells' Introduction^ pp. 187-188.
and occupations; warfare; and the fine arts, learning,
literature and religion.
1. The Human Body — Its Parts and J xmctions
Most poets find the parts of the body and bodily
action a reliable source of imagery, but Emily Dickin
son apparently found it an especially appealing source•
Approximately one hundred and ninety of her images
are of this class; no other single group is so large.
The images of this group further subdivide into the
following sections: the parts of the body, the actions
and characteristics of the body, nourishment, and
illness and medicine. Difficulty arises as to the
placing of a large number of the images; many are
personifications which could be placed in the group
discussed in the last chapter. In each instance, how
ever, the dominant image has been the basis of classi
fication.
The ordinary functions of the body and the parts
of the body are so well known to all people and have
been used so often that associations vdth other objects
or qualities must be presented in a new way to be effec
tive, ( iss Dickinson succeeds in finding original v/ays
in which to use body imageryJ
(she never uses as an image the human body as a
whole, but only the parts of the body.] (There are, for
instance, several images from the parts of the head.
In one figure the moon is described asj
but a chin of gold.
And now she turns her perfect face Upon the world below.
Her forehead is of amplest blond; Her cheek like beryl stone; Her eye unto the summer dew The likeSt I have known,
Hei* lips of amber never part; (Complete Poems, p. 137)
Occasionallj'-, says the poet, she awakens to see upon
the "angle of a landscape," the "forehead of a hill, /
Sometimes a vane's forefinger—" (Bolts of Melody,
p. 85). In some images the eye and its functions are
used for figures such as: at dawn "a mighty look runs
round the world / and settles in the hills," (Further
Poems, p. 55). Then, when the "willing lid" leans
over the "weary eye" of day (Bolts of Melody, p. 25),
the purple figures of the mountains rise, and
In their eternal faces The sun with broad delight Looks long — and last. And golden. For fellowship at night.
(Further Poems, p. 78)
Miss Dickinson's ov/n sight perception was vivid and
keen. She saw life about her in sharp detail and re
membered everjrbhing that she sav/ — her hazel eyes
had "periods of shutting," but as she stated, "No lid
4
has memory" (Bolts of Melody, p. 159). Color was to
her especially pleasing. The pictures which she
paints by words reveal the greatness of her sense
perception. For example, to her vision the distant
mountain "In amber lies," but when it is approached,
"the amber flits a little, — /And that's the skies'."
(Complete Poems, p. 26), Two images portraying a
whole day in the various colors v/hich it produces are:
The color of a queen is this — The color of a sun At setting, this and amber; Beryl and this at noon;
And when at night auroran widths Fling suddenly on men, 'Tis this and witchcraft — nature has An awe of iodine.
(Bolts of Melody, p. 24)
and:
The red blaze is the morning. The violet is noon. The yellow, day is falling. And after that is none
(Bolts of Melody, p. 27)
An image describing the rising of the sun is:
On the world you colored Morning painted rose. Idle lies vermilion. Aimless crept the glows
Over realms of orchards. (Bolts of Melody, p. 70)
and one picturing the colors of sunset as the result
of love's tinting
. . .
5
the transit in < The West With harrowing iodine.
(Further Poems, p. 147)
Some of the remaining color images are quite unusual.
For example, some ere: "It can't be dying, — its too
rouge, — / The dead shall go in white," (Complete
Poems, p. 104); "Fame is the tint that scholars leave /
Upon their setting names — (Bolts of Melody, p. 237);
and
A moth the hue of this Haunts candles in Brazil. Nature's experience would make Our reddest second pale. (Bolts of Melody, n. 72)
Other images from the ejres are used, but it will be
more profitable to omit them in favor of images from
other parts of the head and their functions.
Of six images from the tongue, the one most
original and memorable is: "It was not night, for
all the bells / Put out their tongues, for noon"
(Complete Poems, p. 221). Two images are from the
teeth. One is the tooth "That nibbles at the soul"
(Bolts of Melody, p. 290), and the other is the
"teeth of frost" which in October disclose "A homelier
maturing, / The process in the burr—" (Further Poems,
p. 200). One other image from the mouth is that of
the volcano of life with
6
The lips that never lie,, Whose kissing corals part and shut And cities slip away.
(Further Posns, p. 36)
In one image the spirit is said to be the "con
scious ear, / We actually hear" (Bolts of Melody,
p. 229). Four images are taken from the hair of the
head. In two of them the image is definitive of two
intangible states: "Crisis is a hair / Toward which
forces creep" (Bolts of Melody, p. 190), and "Risk is
' the hair that holds the tun / Seductive in the air"
(Bolts of Melody, p. 285). The other two are even
more imaginative: the clematis presents the poet with
"a single curl / Of her electric hair" (Bolts of
Melody, p. 78), and "flagons" of the bee are "Dainty
as the tress on her / Deft head" (Further Poems,
p. 61).
References to kinetic movement form tv/enty-five
images. Twice images of "yellow feet" appear — one
pertains to the Sun and the other to the lightning,
which passes "Upon the ropes above our head" (Bolts
of Melody, p. 18). In another image it is claimed
that "To v/alk on tides requires cedar feet" (Bolts of
Melody, p. 242). One of the more striking images of
the kind is that of man' s belief in his progress tov;ard
eternity:
My wheel is in the dark, — I cannot see a spoke,
Yet know its dripping fe'et Go round and round.
(Complete Poems, p. 262)
Some other images from kinetic movement are: "It
sounded as if the streets were running, / And then
the streets stood still" (Bolts of Melody, p. 297);
the "strolling hue" of an "accidental red" which
strayed from the setting sun (Bolts of Melody, p. 17);
the picture, **my future climbs the stair" (Further
Poems, p. 190), and the "Republic of delight" where
"The mom vms up, the meadows out / The fences all
but ran" (Bolts of Melody, p. 14). A few other kinetic
images are: the soul which in "moments of escape"
dances and "swings upon the hours" and in "retaken
moments" is led along "With shackles on the plumed
feet," (Bolts of Melody, p. 245); then, the snow flakes
which "danced so / Their slipDers leaped the town"
(Bolts of Melody, p. 95); and last, "Slow tramp the
centuries." (Bolts of Melody, p. 47)
Among the more interesting images referring to
the fingers are those concerned with the "wind with
fingers" (Complete Poems, p. 206) that "comb the sky /
Then quiver down" (Complete Poems, p. 122), and which
make creases **in the meadow" when he "Runs his fingers
thro* it" (Further Poems, p. 57). Other examples of
the use of fingers to convey a picture, or to express
a thought are: "The fingers of the light / Tapped
8
soft upon the town" (Bolts _of Melody, p. 11), and "a
suspicion like a finger / Touches my forehead now
and then," (Bolts of Melody, p. 102). Other interesting
images of the fingers in action are: "My prayer away
I threw; / The quiet ages picked it up" (Complete Poems,
p. 24); "I felt my life v;ith both my hands / To see if
it were there," (Bolts of Melody, p. 145); Gibraltar
has his "shoe / Poised lightly on his hand" (Bolts of
Melody, p. 218); the leaves "unhooked themselves from
trees" (Complete Poems, p. 99); and finally, "An awful
tempest mashed the air. / The clouds were gaunt and
few" (Complete Poems, p. 90).
(Among the activities of the body which furnish
images are sv imming and grooming the body and undressing.
Two images employ swimming as a means of expressing Joy.
In one butterflies "off banks of noon, / Leap, plash-
less as they swim" (Complete Poems, p. 91). In an
unusual image, the sounds made by walking on a prison
floor become, after a long period of time, as sweet
as those of "plashing in the pools / When memory was
a bojr" (Further Poems, p. 21),
One representative image from grooming the body is:
When night is almost done. And sunrise grows so near That we can touch the spaces. It's time to smooth the hair
And get the dimples ready. (Complete Poems, p. 98)
9
The characteristic behavior of man is noted in
some images. Typical are images like those in v/hich
there are
The eager look on landscapes As if they Just repressed Some secret.
(Further Poems, p. 54)
and in a mixed image are several characteristics:
There's a certain slant of light. On winter afternoons,
When it comes, the landscape listens, Shadows hold their breath; When it goes, 'tis like the distance On the look of death.
(Complete Poems, pp. 125-126)
or the picture of faith as a young girl who "slips end
laughs and rallies / Blushes if any see" (Bolts of
Melody, p. 290). Other images from laughter are:
"Light laughs the breeze in her castle of sunshine"
(Complete Poems, p. 183); autumn is "The lower metres
of the year" which come when "nature's laugh is done"
(Complete Poems, p. 142); and, the only phrase known
to Miss Dickinson is that of nature's phrase: "Low
as the laughter of the cricket, / Low as the thunder's
tongue" (Poems, p. 422).
(Another trait of human nature is pictured in an
image in which heaven is addressed as "Bashful Heaven,
thy lovers small / Hide too, from thee' (Further Poems,
10
p . 6 6 ) . Then t h e r e i s a d i sag reeab le s ide of human
n a t u r e :
The sky i s low, the clouds are mean,
A narrow wind complains a l l day; How some one t r e a t e d him: Na tu re , l i k e u s , i s sowetimes caught Without he r diadem.
(Complete Poems, p . 124-125)
Among o the r images from the t r a i t s of human
be ings , the most i n t e r e s t i n g and o r i g i n a l a r e : the
moon who " s l i d e s dovm the s t a i r / To see who's the re"
(Complete Poems, p . 11) ; t h e morning which " f l u t t e r e d ,
s taggered , / F e l t feebly for her crown, —" (Complete
Poems, p . 78) ; and t h a t in which
A sparrow took a s l i c e of twig And thought i t very n i c e .
Inv igora ted f u l l y , Turned easy in the sky As a f a m i l i a r saddle And rode immensity.
(Bol t s of Melody, p . 64)
Eleven images a r i s e from the nourishment of the body.
From e a t i n g come the images: "He a t e and drank the
p rec ious words" (Complete Poems, p . 14) and "nature
r e l i s h e s the p inks / W h i c h she was taught t o ea t" (Bol ts
of Melody, p . 327) . Of the f ive images from d r i r k i n g ,
only one cannot d e f i n i t e l y be ca l led an image from the
d r ink ing of wine or l i q u i d : "sustenance i s of the
s p i r i t , / The s t a r s but dregs" (Bol t s of Melody, p . 156) .
11
Three of them note the e f fec t s of drink on the body:
"How powerful the stimulus" of the"Strong draughts of
t h e i r refreshing minds" (Further Poems, p . 13); "Im
p o s s i b i l i t y exh i l a ra tes the man / Who t a s t e s i t "
(Bolts of Melody, p . 277); and the stimulus "Supports
me l i k e imperial drams / Afforded royally^* (Complete
Poems, p . 228). Another image i s a p ic ture of the
grave where a body r e t i r e s "In a r t i f i c i a l cups of
drowse / To sleep i t s shape away" (Complete Poems,
p . 237). A f i n a l f igure i s tha t in which nectar i s
"a l i qu id never brewed / From tankards scooped in
pear l " (Complete Poems, p . 14) .
The one other kind of image from man and h i s a c t i
v i t i e s i s t ha t of i l l n e s s and treatment for i t . For
ins tance , for the bobolink "music be / H i s only ano
dyne'." (Bolts of Melody, p . 62); "Alternative to d i e , "
i s the "only pharmacy / For being* s maladjr" (Bolts of
Melody, p . 156); but a remedy which f a i l s . Just as
memory f a i l s a t death, i s "iodine /Upon the cataract"
(Bolts of Melody, p . 178)• In two images, be l i e f s and
secre ts are "bandaged" (Bolts of Kelody, p . 293 and
p . 150). Images drawn from maladies are these: the
" p r i c k l i e r pain" i n f l i c t e d by a "furlong" (Further Poems,
p . 14) and the pa ra ly s i s of the veins " tha t used to run"
(Bolts of Melody, p . 164)*
Miss Dickinson's images from the human body are
not commonplace because they have a s t a r t l i n g use of
12
ordinary things. For instance, snowflakes fill, not
the ruts of the road but the "wrinkles" of the road
(Bolts of Melody, p. 41). Some of her best images
are found in this group. Many have not been mentioned
here because, although most of them are significant,
there are too many to note.
2. Human Relationships and Daily Life
/Many of Miss Dickinson's images are taken from
the relationships of people, and from their daily acti
vities, their customs, habits and behavior. The images
discussed in this section are from many tjrpes of people,
such as children, friends, criminals; from hospitality;
from association of people in everyday life; and from
the commonwealth or governments of people.
Miss Dickinson was fond of children. According to
Madame Bianchi, she v/as to her niece and nephev; "Just
another child like them," and they looked upon her as
a magical creature. There are fifteen images from
childhood. In several the toys of children furnish the
image. In one metaphor the soul is a child about whom
it is said by someone who loves him:
It is easy to work v/hen the soul is at play, But when the soul is in pain,
2 M. D. Bianchi, The Life end Letters of Sniily Dickinson (Boston: HougEtonTiIf?IIn''Go., 1924), p. 53. Hereafter referred to as Life and Letters.
3 Ibid.
13
The hearing him put his* plajrthings up Makes work difficult then.
(Bolts of Melody, p. 246)
In two images the figure concerns the leading of a
child by the hand:
There, gathered from the gales, Do the blue heavens by the hand Lead the wandering sails.
(Complete Poems, p. 29)
and the moon with her "amber hands" leads the sea
"Along appointed sands." (Complete Poems, p. 164).
Miss Dickinson's close observance of children is
evident in the following descriptions of nature in
the image of children* s activities:
As children bid the guest good-night. And then reluctant turn. My flov;ers raise their pretty lips. Then put their nightgowns on.
As children caper when they wake. Merry that it is morn. My flov/ers from a hundred cribs Will peep, and prance again,
(Complete Poems, p. 118)
The seasons are said to pray around the "knees" of a
mountain "Like children around a sire" (Complete Poems,
p. 120). Again an image from child life reveals her
rebellion against the universal awe of God:
While God's adroiter will
On Moses seemed to fasten In tantalizing play—
14
As Boy should deal ^ With lesser Boy To show supremacy.
(Further Poems, p. 45)
The final figure from childhood to be noted is that
of the
Faded boy in sallow clothes Who drove a lonesome cow To pastures of oblivion--(Bolts of Melody, p. 132)
Some other relationships of human beings which
are found among the images are friendship and hospi
tality. Images which employ friendship are those in
which the soul is an "imperial friend" (Complete Poems.
p. 25), even a prison "gets to be a friend" (Further
Poems, p. 21), God is "a curious Friend" (Further
Poems, p. 47), **Prospective is the friend" whom we
know when "constancy is clarified / Of curiosity"
(Bolts of Melody, p. 267), and the exalting note of a
bluebird is "like a friend" (Bolts of Melody, p. 61).
Twenty-six images are taken from the sphere of hospi
tality and strangers and guests. Miss Dickinson's
preference for privacy was certainly'- not conducive to
enJo3n3ient in the entertaining of guests, yet her images
from hospitality reveal no resentment of visitors.
In the figures the feelings of people in their roles
of guests and as hosts eve revealed quite graphically.
Social behavior is indicated by the figure: "A courteous.
15
yet harrowing grace, /As guest who would be gone"
(Complete Poems, p. 103). The hesitation of a person
as he is greeted at the door of a strange house
becomes an image describing sunset:
The twilight stood as strangers do With hat in hand, polite and new. To stay as if, or gol
(Complete Poems, p. 139)
Another image of the kind in a whimsical portrayal of
death as a Journey is this: "Because I could not
stop for Death, / He kindly stopped for me" (Complete
Poems, J). 194). An odd comparison is that of "A
coming as of hosts was heard— / That v;as indeed the
rain'." (Bolts of Melody, p. 18). Choice of companion
ship and rejection of those who do not please is
indicated in this image:
The soul selects her own society, Then shuts the door; On her divine majority Obtrude no more.
(Complete Poems, p. 9)
Four images are taken from man' s tendency to
gossip: "The leaves, like women, interchange / Saga
cious confidence" (Complete Poems, p. 96); "time
went out to tell the news / And met eternity" (Bolts
of Melody, p. 124); "A bird sat careless on the fence; /
One gossiped in the lane" (Poems, -D. 402); and
Dust is the only secret. Death the only one
16
You cannot find out all, about In his native town.
(Complete Poems, p. 300)
There are no specific images from death; three,
however, are taken from burial. In one she writes,
"Put up, my heart, thy hoary work / And take a rosy
chair" because "Our salary the longest day / Is
nothing but a bier" (Bolts of Melody, p. 33). A
formal feeling is said to come to one after pain has
passed, and then is v/hen "The nerves sit ceremonious
like tombs" (Further Poems, p. 175). The one other
image of this class is:
I felt a funeral in my brain. And mourners, to and fro. Kept treading, treading, till it seemed That sense was breaking through.
(Complete Poems, p. 238)
Crimes and punishment furnish a number of striking
images. "Grief is a thief" (Bolts of Melody, p. 25)
in one image, and in another, the poet "like a thief /
Fled gasping from the house" (Complete Poems, p. 44).
Assassins provide the basis of the image in two
instances: "the blond assassin," frost (Complete
Poems, p. 123) and the "assassin" of hope, "Pros-
perity" (Bolts of Melody, p. 243), The marauder.
Silence, is a "sorer robber" of Time than is Death
(Bolts of Melody, p. 24). In one image the grave
"yields back her robberies / The years are pilfered
17
things" (Further Poems, p. 1P4). A method of reading
a letter is first to open it, and "softly pick its
°< ** (Coniplete Poems, p. 160). Then there are three
figures based on crime and punishment: a "harm of
years upon him, / The infamy of time" (Bolts of Melody.
p, 188) and the "larceny of time and mind, / The
marrow of the day" (Bolts of Melody, p. 103).
Some images are taken from v/eapons and their uses
for punishment or for criminal action. The moon is
compared to "a head a guillotine / Slid carelessly
away" (Bolts of Melody, p. 28); a man is reminded of
"The axe / That clamors for his head" (Further Poems.
p. 95). In other figures the sun "took down his
yellow whip / And drove the fog away" (Bolts of Melody,
p, 14), and love *'Deals one imperial thunderbolt /
That scalps your naked soul" (Complete Poems, p. 172).
The largest group of images d a 'm from human
society is from classes and types of people. Only a
few of the most typical can be quoted. One type of
person is a Juggler: nature is **Unto a Juggler turned'."
(Bolts of Melody, p. 50); "Grief is a Juggler" (Bolts
£f Melody, p. 252); the sun is "the Juggler of the day"
(Corplete Poems, p. 102). Other images are those
portraying Death as "the supple suitor / That wins at
last" (Bolts of Melody, p. 199) and the bee as a
traitor "of silken speech and soecious shoe" (Bolts
of Melody, p. 69).
18
A fev/ f i g u r e s are drawn *from commonwealths and
governments, such as
and
The V7ind unto his chambers went, And nature ventured out. Her subjects scattered into place. Her systems ranged about.
(Bolts of Melody, p. 19)
The Heart is the capital Of the Mind, The Mind.is a single State The Heart and Mind Together make A single continent,
(Further Poems, p, 138)
All of the activities and relationships of human
beings alluded to in this section of images came under
Miss Dickinson's own close observation. The images
lend a worldly, human touch to her poetry. Her readers
have a closer contact with her through her simple,
precise imagery involving human relationships. The
lengthy list of images from every day life reveals her
artist's ability to paint, in a skillful way, a some
what glorified picture of ordinary life. They prove
to some extent that she noted carefully the behavior
of mrnkind — even if from a distance — and that her
solitary v/ay of life was not brought about by dis
illusionment with human society.
19
3. Amusements and Roa^s and Travel
Although, as Miss Dickinson v;rote to Colonel
Higginson in 1868, she did not cross her "father's
ground to any house of town,"* she would often "make
a Journey of the mind / And still abide" (Bolts of
Melody, p. 269). In her mind she traveled over many
roads: "lighting's pointed road" (Complete Poegis,
p, 35), "A route of evanescence / Vvith a revolving
, wheel" (Complete Poems, p. 86), "a dappled road,"
preferred to the plain "road to paradise" (Bolts of
Melody, p, 212), the "lonesome way," when men and
boys and June with its lark go to the fields to hay,
(Further Poems, p. 196), the "unfrequented" road
through pain "That stops at Heaven" (Further Poems,
p. 102), the "angled road" of Experience (Further
Poems, p. 18), a "little road not made of man,"
which is "accessible to thill of' bee / Or cart of
butterfly*' (Complete Poems, p. 113), and a "goalless"
road which cannot be "compassed" (Poems, p. 450).
In her Journeys of the mind, the roads over which
she traveled were mapped and charted over a "pierless
bridge" (Further Poems, p, 124) and through "the
straight pass of suffering" (Complote Poems, p, 23).
The conveyances which she used to make the Journeys
4 Life and Letters, p. 270.
20
were: the "burnished carriage" of the bee which drives
"boldly to a rose" (Bolts of Melody, p. 70), the
pinions which are the "Seraph's wagon" (Complete Poems,
p. 291), the arms of Christ which are "sufficient
Phaeton" (Further Poems, p. 49), and the "frugal"
chariot "That bears a human soul'." (Complete Poems,
p. 54). That Miss Dickinson moved swiftly along many
roads in her mind is revealed in her images from roads
and travel. She Joins the sun in his travels "along
the crag" with his "caravan of red" (Complete Poems,
p. 115). She hears the "fleshless chant /Rise solemn
in the tree," and is reminded of "Some caravan of
sound" which
On deserts, in the sky, Had broken rank. Then knit, and passed In seamless company,
(Complete Poems, p, 122)
Since Miss Dickinson seldom left her home to take
part in the activities of the world outside, her images
from amusements outside her home can be placed in the
group with images from roads and travel. Both are
classed as images from outside the normal sphere of
the activities of her later years.
[The only image from sports which can be classi
fied as such is this: "Three times the billows tossed /
Then caught me like a ball" (Further Poems, p. 98) ,\
The pleasures of feasting and reveling constitute
21
several images. In a poem describing the beauties
of nature, one scene is so "wondrous" that it is
As if the stars some summer night Should swing their cups of chrysolite And revel till the day.
(Bolts of Melody, p, 223)
In another the bee is the "debauchee of dews'."
(Complete Poems, p. 100), who, along with the poet,
lives
In the quaffing, , 'Tisn't all hock with us. Life has its ale, , .
(Further Poems, p. 60)
(Some images are taken from places of amusement which
deal with nature. There are the Forests and Hills
which are the "tents to Nature's Show" (Complete Poems,
p. 55), some "carnivals of clouds" (Further Poems,
p. 55), and "Nature's caravan" (Complete Poems, p. 273),
Three images describing nature in terms of the activi
ties of people at a theatre are:
Departed to the Judgment, A mighty afternoon; Great clouds like ushers leaning.
Two worlds, like audiences, disperse And leave the soul alone.
(Complete Poems, p, 182)
then, that in vrhich
Like mighty footlights burned the red At bases of the trees, —
* 22
The far theatricals of day Exhibiting to these
'Twas universe that did applaud. (Complete Poems, p. 101)
and, the human heart as the "Only theater recorded /
Owner cannot shut" (Further Poems, p, 28).
Miss Dickinson's imagery from amusements and
travel make apparent her love for solitude. Those
few that are used are mere means of expression,
although they are presented in her typically precise,
fresh manner.
4. Household Arts and Clothing and Sewing
/Miss Dickinson's later life was concerned mostly
with the house and garden in Amherst, and her intimate
knowledge of the household arts resulted in a great
many images from domesticity.^ Professor Whicher says:
She was not by inclination a domestic spirit, but she learned to do her part. The neighborly custom of the village demanded that fruit and flowers be exchanged in season, and that Jellies, desserts and other dainties should be sent about at all times as "attentions" to friends. Emily became an adept at such exquisite cookery — she was a past mistress of bread-making as well — but other housewifely duties irked her. Sev/ing was an exasperation, and as for cleaning the house her j. attitude v;as sximraed up in saying, "I prefer pestilence."^
Her domestic images are drawn from the house itself,
housekeeping, house lighting, the kitchen and the
5 This Wasa_Poet, p. 55.
/ 25
activities connected with it, clothing, sewing, the
appearance and texture of fabrics. Jewels and orna
ments. Miss Dickinson's images from housekeeping are
effective and ingenious. The epitome of them, provid
ing a beautiful description of sunset, appears in the
following poem:
She svTeeps with many-colored brooms. And leaves the shreds behind; Oh, housevfife in the evening west. Come back, and dust the pond*.
You dropped a purple ravelling in, You dropped an amber thread; And now you've littered all the East With clouds of emerald*.
And still she plies her spotted brooms. And still the aprons fly, Till brooms fade softly into stars--And then I come av/ay,
(Complete Poems, p. 101)
Another figure from house cleaning is this: "The
world feels dusty / When we stop to die" (Further
Poems, p. 109). Hence there is a need for a
. , . bustle in a house The morning after death
The sweeping up the heart. And putting love av/ay We shall not want to use again Until eternity.
(Complete Poems, p. 192)
In one image life is said to be behind the shelf that
The sexton keeps the key to, Putting up
24
Our life, his porcelain. Like a cup Discarded of the housewife.
(Complete Poems, p, 150)
Life is not, however, the only thing that is put away;
sometimes a "dull comfort" is found for those who put
away a head "They knew the hair to, and forget / The
color of the day" (Bolts of Melody, p. 156); and some
times the months are wound in balls and put away "in
separate drawers / Until their time befalls" (Complete
Poems, p. 147); but, "you cannot fold a flood /And
put it in a drav/er,—" (Complete Poems, p. 70). In
one image the grave is said to be a cottage where the
parlor is made orderly and the "marble tea" is laid
(Complete Poems, p. 235). In a figure comparing the
brain to the sea, it is said that the brain is deeper,
For, hold them, blue to blue The one the other v;ill absorb, As sponges, buckets do.
(Complete Poems, p, 67)
One of the most memorable of the images from
kitchen activities is this: "Nature was in her beryl
apron / Mixing fresher air." (Complete Poems, p. 97).
Images connected with cooking and table service are:
"The lightning is a yellow fork -- The awful cutlery"
(Bolts of Melody, p. 41); and the "floods are served
to us in bowls,—" iOoj^^ljete Z'^SJIZ' ?• - Q'• ' beauti.
ful image v/hich fits well into this classification is
that of the leaves in autumn making
25
— showers of stain ' When winds upset the basin And spill the scarlet rain'.
(Bolts of Melody, p. 38)
A figure v/hich reminds one of the familiar sight of
moisture forming on the outside of a glass is that of
the chill of death creeping "like frost upon a glass"
(Further Poems, p. 100).
Emily Dickinson must have loved light. Her images
from light contain no sombre element; they picture the
gayer side of life. Her images from fires and arti
ficial illumination are usually indicative of the close
of day, or the end of life or love. Sunset, she says,
is "all of evening softly lit / As an astral hall—"
(Complete Poems, p. 279); or "The largest fire ever
known" which "Occurs each afternoon" (Complete Poems,
p. 274) whose
—miles of sparks at evening Reveal the width that burned— The territory argent That never yet consumed.
(Bolts £f ITelody, p. 27)
The night has not a great fire to light the way, but
is "furnished scant /With but a single star" so fear
ful that whenever it meets a cloud it blov/s itself
out (Complete Poems, p. 161).
One figure dealing with light concerns an "odd
old man," v/ho on "such an evening bright and stiff /
His faded lamp went out" (Bolts of Melody, p. 213).
26
An image illustrating the lov6 of God is that from the
traditional light left burning in a window to guide
someone through the dark: "The Lord a candle enter
tains / Entirely for thee'." (Bolts £f Melody, p. 26).
/Many of the images are taken from clothing. In
her later years Miss Dickinson invariably wore white
clothing, of a style which was fashionable in her youth,
but she had a greater diversity in style and color of
clothing in her poetry. / The animals of her poems wear
a variety of apparel: a little stone wears a coat of
"elemental brov/n" which "A passing universe put on"
(Complete Poems, p. 97); the leopard has a "spotted
dun gown" (Bolts of Melody, p, 273); the butterfly has
a "Numidian go-ym / With spots of burnish roasted on"
(Bolts of Melody, p. 72), or it has an "Assumption-
gown / In chrysoprase apartments hung" (Complete Poems,
p. 121). In one imaginative figure, "Shame is the
shawl of pink / In which we vn?ap the soul" (Bolts of
Melody, p, 251); and in another "the everlasting hill"
is v/rapped by a shawl of a deeper color when "Autumn
begins to be inferred" (Complete Poems, p. 282).
Some of the clothing images refer to coverings
for ohe head. For example, the dandelion's "little
ether hood" (Bolts of Melody, p, 75), "hooded thinking'
(Complete Poems, p. 7), "turbaned seas" (Complete
Poems, p. 112), "the bonnet of the moon," the firma
ment (Complete Poems, p. 137), and a cloud, "A cap of
27
lead across the sky" / -^- "tight and surly drawn"
(Complete Poems, p, 277). Three strikingly original
images from clothing are: "doom's electric moccasin"
(Comnlete Poems, p. 93), the man who is "Dainty
adorned with veins and tissues" (Bolts £f Melody,
p. 104), and a dead bird's claws "like lifeless gloves /
Indifferent hanging now" (Bolts of Melody, p. 66).
Emily Dickinson was familiar v/ith the household
art of sewing. She was well aware that fashions in
dress were often replaced like the "Ribbons of the year"
and "Multitude brocade" which are
Worn to nature's party once. Then flung aside
As faded bead Or wrinkled pearl.
(Bolts £f Melody, p, 94)
The poet may have been exasperated by sewing^ but,
nevertheless, she knew the procedure to follow in
making a garment. By studying her images from sewing
it is possible to create an imaginary garment. The
first step is the placing of "Midnight's awful pattern /
In the goods of day" (Bolts of ITelody, p. 170); then
the "perturbless plan" proceeds "inserting here / A Sun—/
Thera leaving out a Man" (Further Poems, p. 41). After
the cutting of the garment is done, then comes the
threading of a needle v/ith the "mellov/ murmuring thread"
^ This Was a Poet, p. 159
28 t
which the ages use t o spin t h e i r "emerald nes t"
(Fur the r Poems, p . 4 1 ) . Next the s t i t c h i n g of the
garment i s done. Jus t a s did the spider who
— sewed a t n igh t Without a l i g h t Upon an a rc of w h i t e .
(Complete Poems, p , 94)
or l i k e the f i lm over the eyes a t death "had s t i t c h e d
your eyes" (Bol t s of Melody, p . 183) . One must then
t r y to match the p a r t s of t h e garment, "seam by seam,"
Jus t as one does who t r i e s to match the "cleavage" of
h i s mind (Complete Poems, p . 5 7 ) . V/hen the f i n i s h i n g
touches t o the garment have been made, the "agony" of
l i f e i s seen toy ing coo l ly with " the f i n a l inch" of
t he " d e l i r i o u s hem" (Bol t s of Melody, p , 183). Some
o the r images from sewing which are of i n t e r e s t because
of t h e i r s imple, f a m i l i a r q u a l i t y are : "sequences
r a v e l l e d out of reach / Like b a l l s upon a f loor"
(Complete Poems, p . 57 ) ,
The rainbow* s v/ay A skein Flung colored a f t e r r a i n .
(Fur ther Poems, p . 77)
and
How fits his umber coat The tailor of the nut. Combined without a seam That raiment of a dream?
(Bolts of Melody, p. 77)
29
An effect ive type of iiaage v/hich i s frequently
used in Miss Dickinson's poetry i s that taken from
the qua l i ty , the t ex tu re , or the appearance of f abr ics .
Her favor i te f ab r i c s v/ere apparently plush and velvet ;
a t any r a t e , she used them more frequently than other
f a b r i c s . Four f igures are taken from plush: sunset
i s a " n a i l of plush" upon which November hangs h i s
g ran i t e hat (Bolts of Melody, p , 316); a bee sounds
l i k e " t r a i n s of cars — on t racks of plush" (Complete
Poems, p . 116) and
A dog*s belated feet Like intermittent plush were heard Adown the empty street,
(Complete Poems, p. 162)
Of images taken from velvet there are two — a cater
pillar whose "countenance" is of "velvet" (Further
Poems, t>. 62). and a tree which has a "velvet limb"
(Bolts of Melody, p. 64) — but velvet and plush are
used almost interchangeably in this image:
How soft a caterpillp-r steps*.
From such a velvet world it came. Such plushes at command,
(Bolts £f Melody, p. 302)
and in the image from a poem v/hich the poet sent with
flowers to an acquaintance, the flowers are
Syllables of velvet. Sentences of plush,
30
Depths of ruby, undrained, (Further Poems, p, 80)
Velvet and plush, as well as other fabrics suggest a
definite touch sensation: "The calm is but a wall of
unattempted gauze" (Bolts of Melody, p, 247); "Globe
roses break their / Satin flake" upon a garden floor
(Further Poems, p. 141), and "in so dense a fuzz / You,
too, take cobweb attitudes" (Complete Poems, p. 66).
Jewelry and ornaments provide several images in
Miss Dickinson* s poetry. For example, "The beads upon
the forehead / By homely anguish strung" (Complete
Poems, p. 187) and "his life" is "an ornament too grand /
For forehead lov/ as mine to wear" (Further Poems, p. 160).
One figure from Jewelry, brief and somewhat caustic,
is: "Jehovah's watch is wrong" (Further Poems, p. 75).
Among the best of Miss Dickinson's images are those
drawn from domestic life. Professor Wells aptly sums
up this aspect of her art:
. . . her poetry memorializes v/ith . . . specificity her life indoors . . . (.shej writes simply and directly of the woman in the house. She is as much the laureate of housekeepers as Homer was the laureate of warriors. V\?ithout perhaps fully grasping its significance, many of her critics note her tireless liking for domestic imagery. Like Shakespeare, she is fond of depicting costume, especially feminine costume. Her allusions carry us to every part of the house , . . even the most remote , , . The various household activities receive her attention . . . . Emily Dickinson is in fact the only person in America who really made transcendentalism practical."
7 Wells* Introduction, pp. 45-46.
31
Images from the househpld arts reveal that Miss
Dickinson's life was largely concerned v/ith the monoto
nous routine of keeping house and sewing, but that in
humdrum domesticity she found the activities and the
objects with which to illustrate her thoughts of more
intangible things.
5. Practical Arts and Occupations
Many of Emily Dickinson's images are drawn from
the busy world v/hich lay all around her but in which
she did not participate.
Images from trades and crafts are frequent in her
poems. She shows a knov/ledge of the process of con-
st.ruction and repair of buildings and machines, and
she names the tools with which the work is done. The'
soul as a symbol for Deity is said to be "pinned" to
her by "a single screw of flesh" (Poems, p. 431). A
perfect life has "a past of plank and nail" (Complete
Poems, p. 265). A woodpecker's bill is an auger with
which "He laboreth at every tree— / A worm his utmost
goal" (Complete Poems, p, 135). In a poem in which
she rebels against orthodoxy in religion, she pictures
God as a telescope who **perennial upholds us, — "
(Further Poems, p. 43).
Other images which are formed from tools and their
uses are: Death comes to "nail the eyes" (Complete
Poems, p. 62); loss of hope in life is a closing of its
32
"lid" until death — "Until th^ sovereign Carpenter /
Perpetual nail it down" (Bolts of Melody, p. 115); man
is able to endure the bleaker parts of life because
"Salubrious hours" are given which "Drill silently for
heaven" (Complete Poems, p. 68). Five images are taken
from measurement: the measure of "every grief" is made
with "analytic eyes" (Complete Poems, p. 61); "a goblin
v/ith a gauge / Kept measuring the hours" (Bolts f
Melody, p. 183); the measuring off of "another day /
' For an approving God" (Complete Poems, p. 123); man
"measuring unconsciousness" believes that "Each second
is the last" (Bolts of Melody, p. 185); and when a
death occurs, "the milliner and the man / Of the appal
ling trade" come to "Take the measure of a house"
(Complete Poems, p, 247). An unusual love poem is one
which is formed by an image from tools
We met as sparks — diverging flints Sent various scattered ways; We pr rted as the central flint Were cloven with an adze,
(Bolts of Melody, p, 158)
Other images taken from labor with implements and
other mechanical devices are these: "the v/oods were
painted" (Complete Poems, p, 55); after time passes,
the letters of a lover can be read without their "forcing
in my breath /As staples driven through" (Further Poems,
p, 183); "Annihalation plated fresh / V.'ith Immortality"
(Further Poems, p. 127); settling "Systems" in their
33
sockets (Further Poems, p. 89); and soldering, "You
cannot solder an abyss / With air" (Further Poems,
p. 91).
Miss Dickinson was apparently fascinated by wheels
wheels of machines and of vehicles. The more unusual
images from these are: "I worried nature with my
wheels / When hers had ceased to run" (Bolts of Melody,
p. 155); autumn "eddies like a rose away /Upon ver-
milion v/heels" (Boltj of Melody, p. 38); a bird rides
on a wheel "Whose spokes a dizzy music make / As 'twere
a traveling mill" (Further Poems, p. 50); then
'Twas like a maelstrom, with a notch That nearer every day Kept narrowing its boiling wheel.
(Bolts of Melody, p. 183)
and
Ideals are the fairy oil With v'hich vie help the v/heel, But v/hen the vital exle turns The eve ejects the oil.
(Bolts of Melody, p. 251)
Miss Dickinson had an ordinary, general knowledge of
business, but it would be safe to surmise that the
intrusion of business on her solitude was Just as if
"trade has suddenly encroached / Upon a sacrament"
(Complete Poems, p. 128). Only vague references to
business are found in her images, indicative i erhaps
of her dislike for trade. Among these images are:
34
the requisite for obtaining the good \ ill of a flov/er
is "certificate / Of minted holiness," (Bolts £f
Melody, p. 51); magnitude is a height which involves
"Alpine requirements" (Further Poems, p, 144); and,
sxrnset's "purple traffic / Strews the landing with
opal bales" (Complete Poems, p. 116).
Images from the ordinary business of the every
day world, such as the prices of objects, buying and
selling, are also to be fo\Hid in the poems. Since
Miss Dickinson never v/ent shopping or tended to business,
her images of this type were probably gathered from
small talk around the house v/ith her sister, Lavinia,
and from her general knov/ledge of such things. There
are two images in v/hich she speaks of a merchant selling
something over a counter. In one she says,
I came to buy a smile to-day
I'm pleading at the counter. Sir, Could you afford to sell?
(Further Poems, p. 140)
and in the other she denotes the behavior of an eccen
tric, but gentle storekeeper:
The merchant of the picturesque A counter has and sales, But is within or negative Precisely as the calls.
To children he is small in price And large in courtesy; It suits him better than a check, Their artless currency,
(Bolts of Melody, p. 302)
35
V^imsical images from s e t t i n g a p r i ce and from paying
for something a re a l so found among her poems. "Reckon
the morning ' s f lagons up, / And say how many devr,"
(Complete Poems, p . 100), and
I took one draught of l i f e , I ' l l t e l l you what I pa id . P r e c i s e l y an e x i s t e n c e - -The market p r i c e , t hey s a id .
They weighed me, dust by dus t , They balanced f i lm with f i lm. Then handed me my b e i n g ' s woarbh— A s ing le dram of Heaven,
(Fur ther Poems, p . 135)
A s t r i k i n g l y d i f f e r e n t f igure which dea l s v/ith another
phase of merchandising i s t h a t in which she claims:
I f "God i s love" as He admits .
I f " a l l i s poss ib l e " with Him As he bes ides conceded, He w i l l refund us f i n a l l y Our conf isca ted goods.
(Bo l t s of Melody, p . 155)
Of the tv/elve o ther images taken from earning money
and from buying and s e l l i n g and s e t t l i n g accounts,
only two need be noted:
. . . b l i s s i s sold Just once The p a t e n t l o s t None buy i t any more
(Poems, p . 60)
and " I s Heaven an exchequer? / They speak of what we
owe" (CoriT^lete Poeras, p . 27) ; and the p rove rb ia l inage,
36
"Seventy years is spent as quick as an only dollar"
(Bolts of Melody, p. 267).
Miss Dickinson uses a few general images taken
from farming. There are tv/o figures from harvesting,
one of which is winnowing "what would fade from what
would last" of life (Further Poems, p, 19). Tilling
the "abyss" of the mind (Bolts of Melody, p, 293)
and "sowing" frosts (Bolts of Melody, p. 109) and
wastes of lives (Further Poems, p. 293) are other
images used. An image v/hich reveals Miss Dickinson's
awareness of the great pioneering spirit of America
is that of the "Wide prairies of the air / Unbroken
by a settler" (Further Poems, p. 47).
A few conventional, unimpressive images are formed
from structures of several kinds. The ones which are
most memorable are those in v/hich a schoolhouse is
likened to a "Jail" from which the boys and girls
"Ecstatically leap," each afternoon (Complete Poems,
p. 56), and in which a tent imagined to be heaven is
seen
To wrap its shining yards. Pluck up its stakes and disappear Y/ithout the sound of boards Of rip of nail, or carpenter, (Further Poems, p. 4]
The images from a house and its parts are mostly
of a general nature. In one figure Possibility is a
37
fairer house than Prose becsuse it is "More numerous
of window, / Superior of doors" and for a roof it has
the "gables of the sky" (Further Poems, p, 30); in
another, "Remembrance has a rear and front,— / 'Tis
something like a house" (Complete Poems, p, 66).
Once the sky is called "inns of molten blue" (Complete
Poems, p. 14), and the air is called "life's faint
wailing inn" (Bolts of Melody, p. 281). The floors
of a house are employed as figures three times: the
print made by a phebe on the "floors of fame" (Bolts
of Melody), the boggy acre— "A floor too cool for
corn" (Complete Poems, p. 92), and "The pile of years -•
rising every day / From recollection's floor" (Bolts
of Melody, p, 171). Finally, day is thus curiously
described in terms of parts of a building:
Noon is the hinge of day. Evening the folding door. Morning, the east comnelling sill Till all the world is ajar.
(Bolts _of Melody, p. 15)
It is interesting to discover in a study of Emily
Dickinson's imagery that such a large number of figures
are taken from the activities of the world outside the
realm of her experience. Such a discovery reveals the
fact that her retirement and her concentration on the
inner world of her mind and on her household living did
not cause her to ignore the outer world or to lose
interest in its activities.
38
6. Warfate
Thirty-two images can definitely be called
figures from v/arfare. Miss Dickinson lived in re
tirement during the Civil War, but she had the interest
in warfare that is found in most men. Whether or not
she had a knowledge of it did not keep her from using
it as material for images — and her images reveal
that she could present amazingly adept pictures of
war. Many of the figures probably came from her
reading experience of literature rather than of news-
papers, for her figures are largely from medieval
warfare rather than the Civil War. From a study of
her figures of speech one would deduce that she was
too much interested in the aspects of war itself to
present conclusions either approving or condemning
it. Terms of war were for her an expressive means
of describing nature. In one image she indicated
that sunset is a "solemn war" — the Battle of Bur-
goyne.
Over every day By the time that man and beast Put their work away.
(Bolts of Melody, p. 21)
Another image v/hich probably describes sunset is found
in a two-line fragment of a poem: "Soft as the massacre
of suns / 3y evening's sabres slain" (Bolts of Melody
p. 297). Autumn is the season when
39
Their barricade against the sky The martial trees withdraw. And with a flag at every turn Their armies are no more.
Recurrent to the after mind That massacre of air. The wound that was not wound nor scar. But holidays of wa.r,
(Bolts of; Melody, p, 20)
In one image roses are "crimson scouts" sent "To
sound the enemy" (Bolts of Melody, p. 332). Other
images from warfare are those concerning the weapons
of war: "the lightning's poignards gleamed" (Complete
Poems, p. 297); "The dandelion's shield /is valid as
a star" (Bolts of Melody, p. 51); and the arrow of
the soul, "what issues / Upon thine arrow hang'."
(Bolts of Melody, p, 12).
A more definite conception of obscure qualities
or things is conve37 ed by describing them in terms of
warfare. Among these images are, for example: "Time's
sublimest target / Is a soul 'forgot'*," (Complete
Poems, p. 171), "Mirth is the mail of anguish / In
v/hich it caution arm," (Complete Poems, p. 7), and
"The past is such a curious creature," that
Unarmed if any meet her I charge him fly'. Her rusty ammunition Might yet replyi
(Complete Poenis, P. 68) • in - " - I I r !• • J ' •*-
40
Two other images from war reveal something of
Miss Dickinson's attitude toward religion. In one
of the images God is blessed because
. , , he went as soldiers. His musket on his breast; Grant God, he charge the bravest Of all the martial blest,
(Complete Poems, p, 234)
The other image from war is one of the most striking
to be found in her poetry — a brief, graphic de scrip,
tion of the Heart as a battle:
The popular Heart is a Cannon first. Subsequent a drum; Bells for an auxiliary And an afterward of rum.
(Further Poems, p. 6)
Miss Dickinson's v/ar imagery is skillfully created, but
it is of no especial significance except in her use of
it to describe nature or her thought. The figures
derived from warfare are not from its unusual aspects,
but their application is original,
7. The Fine Arts, Learning, Literature, and
Religion
Emily Dickinson's imagery from the fine arts,
learning, literature, and religion are few in number.
Although very little is knov/n about her interests in
the fine arts other than music, sufficient evidence is
41
found in her letters and poems to indicate that she
had an interest in learning and a love for literature.
Religion, too, from her unorthodox point of view,
was important to her.
More im' ges are to be found from music than from
any other of the fine arts. Miss Dickinson played
the piano when she was a girl and she loved to hear
her friend, Mrs. Todd, play; therefore it is only
natural that she should draw some of her images from
music. Six out of her eight music images are asso
ciated with nature. Two figures indicate the seasons
of the year: the arrival of spring is certain when
"Lethargic pools resume the whir / Of last year's
sundered tune" (Complete Poems, p. 112), and, v/hen
"The Jay his Castanet has struck /Put on your muff
for winter," because he indicates the end "of sv/arthy
days" (Bolts of Melody, p. 76). .Tv/o other figures
denote sounds of nature: "There came a wind like a
bugle;" (Complete Poeras, p. 93), and
Of all the sounds despatched abroad. There' s not a charge to me Like that old measure in the boughs, That phraseless melody.
(Complete Poems, p. 122)
Other music images dealing v/ith nature are "Touch
lightly nature's sweet guitar /Unless thou know'st
the tune" (Bolts of Melody, p. 61), and one in v/hich
all of nature is a song:
42 t
The e a r t h has many keys V/here melody i s not * I s t h e unlaiov/n pen insu la ,
(Bol t s of Melody, p , 75)
A music image t h a t i s a l so one of Emily Dick inson ' s
many p o e t i c express ions on immortal i ty i s the following:
This v/orld i s not conclusion; A sequel s tands beyond. I n v i s i b l e , as music. But p o s i t i v e , as sound.
(Complete Poems, p , 225)
The l a s t f i gu re from music i s : "Over and over, l i k e
a tune / The r e c o l l e c t i o n p l ays" (Further Poems, p , 112),
Images from the a r t of p a i n t i n g rank next i n
number t o t h e music images. Night i s ca l led " the
morning 's canvas ," (Complete Poems, p , 291), and her
i n a b i l i t y t o phrase a c e r t a i n thought i s compared to
t h e f u t i l e e f f o r t of a hand t h a t "Did t r y to chalk the
^^^^ (Complete Poems, p . 1 9 ) . Her usual de sc r ip t i on
of na tu re by imagery i s found in the th ree remaining
f i g u r e s from p a i n t i n g . Heaven i s said t o "Beaut i ful
as p i c t u r e s / No man drew" (Complete Poems, p , 209).
Miss Dickinson be l i eve s t h a t **Without the snow's
t a b l e a u / Winter v/ere l i e t o me" because she says,
" I see New Englandly" (Fur ther Poems, p . 60) . The l a s t
image from t h i s a r t i s a p o r t r a y a l of the s t ruggle of
na tu re t o p a i n t a ro se :
43 t
Artists wrestled here*. Lo, a tint cashmere'. Lo, a rose*. Student of the year. For the easel here Say repose'. (Bolts of Melody, p. 49)
Four images are drawn from the art of sculpture.
For example frost is said to be
A visitor in March — Who influences flov/ers Till they are orderly as busts.
(Complete Poems, p. 509)
and a suspended state of mind is
. . .smooth, no motion-Contented as the eje Upon the forehead of a Bust, That knows it cannot see, (Complete Poems, p. 264)
The remaining images from sculpture describe conditions
of the body: "Vitality is carved and cool, / My nerve
in marble lies" (Bolts Melody, p. 164); and the
other is a somewhat subtle metaphor: "Whole pools" of
grief can be v/aded because one is accustomed to it —
But the least push of Joy Breaks up my feet, And I tip —
(Complete Poems, p. 21)
Two images are from drar.e: "So soft upon the scene /
The act of evening fell" (Bolts of Melody, p. 25) and
44
••appointed c rea tu re s , " the red rays of the set t ing
sun, find t h e i r places '
In authorized arrays Due, promptly as a drama That bows and disappears.
(Bolts of Melody, p , 24)
The one other image from the fine a r t s i s from the
b a l l e t :
A glee possesseth me That had a b a l l e t knov/ledge Would put i t s e l f abroad In p i roue t t e to blanch a t roupe. Or lay a Prima mad*.
(Further Poems, p , 8)
Miss Dickinson read widely and eagerly from many
books, but she did not draw many images from them.
She expresses her love for reading in one figure:
There i s no f r iga te l i ke a book To take us lands av/ay. Nor any coursers l ike a page Of prancing poetry .
(Complete Poems, p , 53)
Miss Dickinson apparently found that f igures from nature
and l i f e v/ere ea s i l y applied to books and learning
because she makes many of such f igures . Physical l i f e
i s p ic tured as " the primer to a l i f e / Unopened, r a r e ,
upon the shelf" (Complete Poems, p , 191). The song of
the robin in one figure i s a " s i l v e r chronicle" (Bolts
of Melody, p . 65). Another per t of nature described
45
in terms of a book is "The hnis in purple syllables /
The day's adventures tell," (BoTts of Melody, p. 92),
Her love for both nature and poetry, and a revelation
of what poetry meant to her, is revealed in the image:
To see the summer sky Is poetry Though never in a book it lie,
(Bolts of; Melody, p, 230)
Miss Dickinson, in another image states the causes of
_ the lack of interest in the Bible:
The Bible is an antique volume Written by faded men.
Had but the tale a warbling Teller All the boys would come,
(Complete Poems, p, 299)
Other images dravm from learning are: "The hollows
round his eager eyes / More pages where to read" (Bolts
of Melody, p, 129); "Saints with vanished slate and
pencil / Solve our April da/' (Complete Poems, p, 271);
and the n ;ed of the dying is for "a flov/er's unobtru
sive face / To punctuate the wall," (Complete Poemr,
p. 241). An image drawn from language is that of the
"reportless subjects" which are "foreign as the dialect /
Of Denes unto the rest" (Bolts of Melody, p, 276).
Miss Dickinson evidently had little interest in
science because she uses only three images concerning it.
In one she indicated her attitude toward science:
until i*-.HMi*flmi«i»*aM
46
. . . we should deem superfluous Many Sciences Not pursued by learned angels In scholastic skies*.
(Complete Poems, p. 52)
In one science image a snov/flake "curls itself in
Capricorn / Denying that it was" (Bolts of Melody,
p. 41). The other image is:
Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency*.
(Complete Poems, p. 32)
Emily Dickinson's father was a lav/yer, and it is safe
to conjecture that the poet knev; something about legal
procedure. Hov/ever, her images from law involve only
a few legal terms which are familiar to everyone. In
one she says that she will wear a rich ornament v/hen
she dies in order to prove her v/ealth "Lest skies
impeach a v/ealth so v/onderful / And banish me" (Bolts
of Melody, p. 111). The other image is from a whole
poem describing a legal process. Emily Dickinson has
a dispute with God about the ownership of a garden:
I had some things that I called mine. And God, that He called His, Till recently a rival claim Disturbed these amities;
The property, my garden Which having scvm v/ith care. He claims the pretty acre.
47
And sends a bailiff there.
I'll institute an action I'll vindicate the law*,
(Bolts of Melody! p.*53)
Miss Dickinson's reading v/as not a major source
of images. Only eight images from literature, history
and mythology are found in her poems. She read and
studied the plays of Shakespeare eagerly — "If there
was one author that she knew thoroughly it was Shake-Q
s p e a r e , " but only one image r e f e r s e i t h e r t o him
or h i s works:
Hamlet t o himself were Hamlet Had not Shakespeare wro te . Though the Romeo l eave , no second Of h i s J u l i e t ,
(Fur ther Poems, p . 28)
S t r ange ly enough, t h i s image and one from Longfellow
are the only f i g u r e s drawn from the works of an au thor .
The image from Longfellow i s a dar ing comparison of
God's love for the v/orld as a " v i c a r i o u s cour tship" of
which v/as "Mi les ' and P r i s c i l l a ' s such a one" (Further
Poems, p . 198 ) . P ro fes so r Whicher speaks of t h i s
f i gu re i n d i s c u s s i n g Emily Dickinson*s humor:
Her genuine reverence could not r ep re s s her de l igh t when she de tec ted an apt metaphor for "God so loved the v/orld t h a t he <??ave h i s only begot ten Son" in The Cour tship of Mi les S t and i sh . ^
® 3 M ^ ' ' ^ £ ^ o e t . pp, 209-210 ^ "^^^^ E H £ ^ o e t , p'. 183.
48
The other images are drawn fr®m historical characters
and from mythology. One figure referring to a well-
knov/n historical character who may well have been
known to Miss Dickinson through Shakespeare's plays is:
The fine impalpable array That swaggers on the eye Like Cleopatra's company Repeated in the sky—
(Further Poems, p. 34)
Another historical character is William Tell. In a
poem relating the legendary story of his shooting the
apple from his son's head, she says
Tell this day endures Ruddy as that coeval apple The tradition bears.
(Bolts of Melody, p, 120)
Images from the classics and mythology reveal a general
knowledge v/hich she could have gained from everyday
life or education as e?sily as from her reading. Two
images refer to the classics. In one, the Athenian
orator, Demosthenes, is a frog who "has vanished / In
forums green" (Bolts of Melody, p. 60). The other
image is that in v/hich Miss Dickinson's flowers
, . . eloquent declare What Cato couldn't prove to me Except the birds v/ere he re I
(Further Poems, p. 56)
From mythology cone tv/o images:
• r i M ^ i t III u^.1
49 t
But des t iny i s old And economical of b l i s s As Midas i s of gold,
(Bolts of Melody, p . 157)
and, in an image which also contains one of her most
s t r ik ing of f igures — her paradoxical manner of
expression:
. • . the stillness is volcanic In the human face When upon a pain titanic Features keep their place,
(Bolts oif Melody, p. 253)
That Miss Dickinson knev/ the Bible thoroughly
is evident even from a cursory glance through her
poems, which contain countless references to and ideas
from the Bible. Therefore, it is quite astonishing to
find that only eleven images are taken from the Bible
or from religious practices and ceremonies. Books of
the Bible are referred to in a figure calling winter
time "The Revelations of the book / Whose Genesis is
June" (Complete Poems, p, 142). Other images are from
characters of the Bible. In two figures, the angel
Gabriel, is involved. The first is that in which the
actions of birds remind the poet of Abraham* s unknov/-
ingly entertainment of the three angels in his tent^2-
10 Genesis 18,
TEXAS TECHNOLOGICAL COLLEGE LUBBOCK, TEXAS LIBRARY
50
and which is also figurative bf daily life in that
there is breakfasting and entertainment:
Enticed to breakfast from the sky Two Gabriels yestermorn; They registered in Nature's book As Robin — Sire and Son, But angels have that modest way To screen them from renov/n,
(Complete Poems, p. 281)
The second image is that in v/hich the poet's face will
be inspected by an angel when she reaches heaven. The
• angel will give her "such a crown /As Gabriel never
capered at" (Bolts of Melody, p. 177), The image in
which the poet says that she
, . . took my power in my hand And went against the world; 'Twas not so much as David had.
(Complete Poems, p. 33)
recalls the Bible story of David's killing Goliath
with his sling. In another image, the ceasing of rain
fall is compared to Elijah's riding away "Upon a
wheel of cloud" (Bolts of Melody, p. 19). Judas Iscariot
is aptly used for bad mushrooms: "Had nature an Iscariot /
That mushroom — it is him" (Complete Poems, p, 93). A
locomotive is said to "neigh like Boanerges"^^ (Complete
Poems, p, 25), and "grand old Moses" is seen in "penta-
teuchal robes" (Further Poems, p, 46), One other Biblical
11 Boanerges is the appellation given by Christ to James and John (Mark, 4:17),^
51
image i s t h a t in which the ^oet prays t h a t "you" w i l l
" cons ide r me / The sparrow of your care" (Complete
Poems, p . 224) . The f igure i s undoubtedly a reference
t o the B i b l i c a l ve r s e s which say t h a t God knows when
even a sparrow fa l l s , "^^ In one poem Miss Dickinson
warns aga ins t the "Embarrassment of one another / And
God" because , she c la ims , everything of importance i s
" s t i l l " and sec re t — even "Div in i ty dwells under
sea l " (Bo l t s of Melody, p , 249). In another she advo
c a t e s one ' s d i sappear ing because
The man v/ho runs av/ay I s t i n c t u r e d for an i n s t a n t ?/ith Immor ta l i t y .
(Fur ther Poems, p . 197)
However, those who remain sometimes th ink of the absent
"Without misery , " but sometimes an " i n s t a n t ' s wanting"
them seems to be " E t e r n i t y " (Further Poems, p , 163) .
The l a s t t h ree images of t h i s group are from
churches: "Conform my soul as ' tv/ere a church / Upon
her sacrament" (Complete Poems, p , 167) and, v/ords
come to express thoughts "Like s igna l e s o t e r i c s ips /
Of sacramental wine" (Bol t s £f Melody, p . 228), and l a s t :
The P r e s b y t e r i a n b i r d s Can nov/ resume the meeting He g a i l y i n t e r r u p t e d the bobolink That overflowing day When opening the Sabbath In t h e i r a f f l i c t i v e way,
12 Matthew 10 :29 -31 ,
52
He svmng upon the decal*ogue And shouted, "Let us prayl"
(Bolts £f Melody, p^ 63)
Emily Dickinson's re l ig ion was a curious one.
She knew the Bible thoroughly, but her application of
i t s teachings was not what was usually expected of a
person in Pur i tan New England. For example, only one
who had a boldness and a somewhat i r reverent a t t i tude
toward r e l i g ion would have wri t ten that "God i s a
d i s t a n t , s t a t e l y Tower / Woos, so He t e l l s us , by h is
Son" (Further Poems, p . 198). Professor Whicher says
t h a t
her lump of reverence was small. Even as a schoolgirl she loved to make impish applicat ions of familiar phrases , and more often than not a passage from the Bible lay read ies t to hand. . . . The sayings of Holy Writ were not sacred to her unless, they proved true when tes ted by her own experience.
Her images from re l ig ion are the most in te res t ing
f igures of t h i s group because she dares to say whatever
p leases her about r e l i g ion , and because she uses Bibl ica l
f igures so ap t ly to express her thought.
Miss Dickinson's images from the fine a r t s and
learn ing and l i t e r a t u r e are not impressive and have
l i t t l 3 s igni f icance . They indicate that she had no more
than a general knowledge of them; in t h i s case the images
would lead to a misconception concerring her i n t e r e s t s .
13 This Was a Poet , p . 154.
53
for it is knov/n that one of* her chief pastimes was
reading. Her images from the Bible reveal her thorough
knowledge of it and its teachings, and these figures
are the most impressive images of the section.
Emily Dickinson's withdrawal from society may have
been prompted by her desire to think and to study life
without disturbance or interruptions from life, itself.
She kept a watchful eye on the activities of the world
about her while she concentrated on immortality and
on self-analysis. Her images from the body are those
ordinarily used by poets, but in her case her poetic
genius gives an original touch to nearly every one.
Her domestic images are the most outstanding group of
figures in the chapter. Her portrayal of the simple
tasks that are usually associated with household duties
seem to erase from one's mind the thoughts of its
drudgery. She could take any object or activity about
the house to create a figure; even the sweeping of a
room becomes an effective image in her poems. She
used many images from the busy world outside her own
experience, but she pictured the many phases of that
life truthfully from her observations and from her
sharp insight into life.
CHAPTER II
BIAGES FROM EXTERNAL NATURE
No account of Smily Dickinson's life leaves any
doubt that she loved nature, and evidence of that
love is found in her imagery. Figures from nature
comprise approximately one hundred and ninety of her
images. She was apparently fascinated by it, and she
was sensitive to its various features, even those that
are disagreeable. In general, gardening seems to have
been her favorite pastime. Her nature imagery often
contains allusions to flowers and plants as v/ell as
figurative language from gardening. The weather,
celestial bodies, the other elements of nature during
the cycles of the seasons find an important place in
her nature imagery. The sea and seafaring comprise a
surprisingly large number of figures, but the majority
of her images from nature are those taken from animals
and their actions and behavior. Miss Dickinson's
figures of speech from nature impress one as being
written by a careful, interested observer of nature.
Her inspiration for nature imagery was from aspects
of nature which are familiar to all of us,
1. Animals
The l a rges t group of Miss Dickinson's f igures of
speech from nature i s tha t from four-footed beasts ,
55
birds, insects, reptiles, and images from the charac
teristics and parts of the bodies of animals which do
not fall into any one of these <r^^gories. Twenty-
three bird images make up the largest and most important
group of images in this classification. Not so much
interest is placed in birds themselves as in their
activities. One means of expression is fo\md in her
images from the wings and feathers of birds, which set
forth concretely the abstract qualities of disdain
(Bolts of Melody, p, 200), anguish (Bolts of Melody,
p, 660), and time (Complete Poems, p. 147), Twice it
is asked whether dav/n has "feathers like a bird?"
(Complete Poems, p, 76 and Complete Poems, p, 130).
Once a book is called a "bequest of wings" (Complete
Poems, p. 14). In many of her bird images are to be
found the bold, baffling figures so characteristic of
her verbal art: "The eggs fly off in music from their
maple keep" (Bolts of Melody, p. 162) and birds
"tremble from the clouds" and "fumble at the strain /
The blessed ether taught them" (Further Poems, p. 1^0).
Her full metaphorical power is seen in the image:
We are the birds that stay
The shiverers 'round farmers' doors. For whose reluctant crumb We stipulate, till parting snows Persuade our feathers home.
(Bolts of Melody, p. 201)
*2i.Jk..>.>-..^ -Ai^U
56
Images from four-footed animals are used sixty-
nine times. There are no terrifying pictures of wild
animals, although images from wild animals are striking
in originality. Typical is the portrayal of the day
leaping like
. • . leopards to the sky. Then at the feet of the old horizon Laying her spotted face to die.
(Complete Poems, p. 102)
Equally strange, and more striking, is the figure of
pain called "gimlets among the nerve" which "Mangle
daintier, terribler / Like a panther in the glove"
(Bolts of Melody, p. 246). Some other animal images
found in the poems are the "whimpering hound" within
the heart (Bolts of Melody, p. 324); the soul, "Attended
by a Single Hound—" (Complete Poems, p. 257); the
lightning that "skipped like mice" (Complete Poems,
p. 188); "Grief is a mouse" (Bolts of Melody, p. 251);
the "Winds drew off / Like hungry dogs" (Complete Poems,
p, 276); and the clouds are like "listless elephants /
Horizons straggled dovm" (Complete Poems, p, 183).
Emily Dickinson maintains her originality in her figures
drawn from the characteristics of horses. Only the
actions of horses are used,never the appearance. Twice
analogies are drawn betv/een a horse's activities and a
clock's ticking: "".Ve v/ere listenipg to the seconds'
race / And the hoofs of the clock" (Bolts £f Melody,
57
p. 146), and "the old clock kfept neighing 'day"."
(Complete Poems, p. 160). One of the best known of
her poems is that which pictures a locomotive as a
horse; the v/hole poem is figurative, beginning, "I
like to see it lap the miles? And lap the valleys
up" and ending with its stopping, "docile and omni
potent — / At its ovm stable door" (Complete Poems.
p. 26).
Images from the realm of insects and reptiles
are few, and they are mostly ordinary figures. Among
them are such symbols of Death as an "insect / Menacing
the tree" (Complete Poems, p. 230) and as a "narrov/
snake" who "forked his way along" (Bolts of Melody.
p. 54). Others are: when the Lord "Do concentrate
His countenance," the North and the South "Like glow
worms flee away" (Bolts of Melody, p, 26); time goads
one like "the goblin bee, /That will not state its
sting" (Complete Poems, p. 147); and the mind which
"lives on the heart / Like any parasite" (Bolts jof
Melody, p. 227).
Many of the poet's images v/hich fall into the
animal group are those which give the characteristics
of aL.imals and name the p^rts of their bodies. There
are five images in which the v/ord "crawl" is indicative
of slow movement. These are: a sail "crav/led leagues
off" (Further Poems, p. 98); a snail dusk "cravrls on
58
the village" (Complete Poems , p, 141); and a reef
"crawled easy from the sea" (Poems, p. 414), The
slinking movement of an animal is used tv/ice: secrets
"slink away / Beside God's 'will not to tell'" (Bolts
of Melody, p. 265), and nameless fathoms "slink away /
Beside infinity (Bolts of Melody, p. 28). The claw
of a beast or bird is employed four times: lightning's
"livid claw" (Complete Poems, p. 99); "food's necessity"
upon one "like a claw" (Bolts £f Melody, p. 100);
"Propitiation's claw" (Complete Poems, p, 284); and an
"Instant's claw" (Bolts of Melody, p. 189). One
strange creature found among the images is a balloon
who
Trips frantic in a tree. Tears open her imperial veins And tumbles in the sea.
(Complete Poems, p. 139)
In her animal imagery Miss .Dickinson reveals that
she had only a remote interest and only a general know
ledge of them, and that she apparently employed such
figures chiefly because they lent themselves readily
to her purpose.
2. Plants and Gardening
For one v/ho loved so well to tend the flowers in
her garden, Emily Dickinson uses relatively fe-/ firnres
from this sphere of activity. From grov/ing plants.
59
there are fourteen images, and from gardening, nine;
yet the majority of them reveal her in te res t in her
garden end her observation of the process of growth.
Evidence tha t her study of p lants tended to be
r a the r s c i e n t i f i c a t times i s found in the terms which
she u s e s . In one poem she uses sc i en t i f i c terms of
p lan t l i f e to describe a sunset:
The sun subsiding on h i s course Bequeathes t h i s f ina l plant To contemplation — not to touch The flower of Occident. One corol la i s the west, The calyx i s the ear th . The capsule ' s burnished seed, the s t a r s .
(Bolts of Melody, p , 22)
Miss Dickinson v/as apparently impressed, as most
gardeners a r e , by the grovrbh of a plant from a seed
sown in the ground. For example, "The seeds of smiles
are planted / Which blossom in the dark" (Bolts of
Melody, p , 326), and
Longing i s l ike the seed That wres t les in the ground. Believing i f i t intercede I t shal l a t length, be found,
(Further Poems, p . 171)
Another very s t r ik ing image i s tha t in v/hich revolution
i s l ikened to a pod. from which the winds of passion
s c a t t e r the seeds of systems:
Revolution i s the pod Systems r a t t l e from:
60 When the winds of * Will are stirred. Excellent is bloom.
(Further Poems, p. 33)
One of the most effective images from gardening is
this: "Her face was in a bed of hair" (Bolts of
Melody, p. 1?^4). The development of the fruit of
plants or trees apparently fascinated her. Tv/ice
she speaks of the "ripeness" of a rose (Bolts of
Melody, p.'162 and Further Poems, p. 59); she mentions
"The hopes so Juicy ripening" (Bolts of Melody, p. 66)
and, perhaps the best example of all:
A solemn thing within the soul To feel itself get ripe And golden hang, v/hile farther up The Maker's ladders stop. And in the orchard far below You hear a being drop;
(Bolts of Melody, p. 244)
Miss Dickinson often names different plants in
her poetry, but in her imagery she is more apt to use
their characteristics than their names. Among the
very few v/hich she designates by names are: a woman's
dying is like "a reed / Bent to the water" (Complete
Poems, p. 191), and the "Gay little Heart" is told
"Like the morning glory / Thou* 11 wilted be" (Cor- plete
Poems, p. 170). Even in these two it is evident that
the characteristics of the plants are her chief concern.
61
3 . Ea r th , Sky^ Elements
The elements of n a t u r e , the sky, and the ear th
f ind an important p l ace in Miss Dickinson 's imagery.
In t h e s e images, a s in most of h e r s , the re i s an
i n t r i g u i n g use of f i g u r a t i v e language. Weather seems
t o have been of e s p e c i a l concern to h e r . She i s av/are
of the e f f e c t s of weather on p l a n t s and f lowers .
Three i ' igures involve the dew: flov/ers "heard the
t a l e of dews" (Complete Poems, p . 115) ; a person
"went a s qu ie t as the dew / From a fami l ia r flower"
(Complete Poems, p . 195); and a flower i s "unnoticed
as a s i n g l e dew / That on the acre l i e s " (Complete
Poems, p , 196) . The f igure of f r o s t k i l l i n g flowers
i s used once t o shov/ t h a t a broken hear t i s as "use
l e s s as next morning* s sun /Where midnight f r o s t s
had l a in ' . " (Complete Poems, p . 223), Not only does
she observe the des t roy ing e f f ec t s of v/eather on
growing p l a n t s , and f inds use for i t in her imagery,
but she a l so sees en analogy betv/een bad weather and
death or e t e r n i t y . In one ins t ance she imagines death
as f r o s t , "The f r o s t of death i s on the pane" (Bol ts
of Melody, p . 54 ) . Another time she sees the eye of
a dying person " c l o u d i e r become / And then , obscure
wi th fog" (Complete Poems, p . 1 8 8 ) . Twice f igures of
a flood convey a b e l i e f i n the e t e r n a l e - i s t ence of
the soul of man (Complete Poems, p . 305 and Bol t s of
62
Melody, p. 266). An unusual image of the weather
is that the stillness v/hich surrounds a dying person
is "like the stillness of the air / Between the heaves
of storm" (Complete Poems, p, 245). Other poets
frequently use images from the v/eather, but in Emily
Dickinson* s poems, v/eather images have the invariably
bold, startling impression characteristic of her. For
example, in speaking of a thought, she calls it "quiet
as a flake, -- / A crash without a sound" (Complete
Poems, p. 59). Even her least astonishing figures
of the v/eather contain elements typical of her rare
poetic touch: laughter is like "the breeze / That
dies away in dimples" (Complete Poems, p. 206) and
a gentian is said to be "As casual as rain, / And as
benign" (Bolts of Melody, p. 79).
Among the loveliest of her images are those drawn
from davm. It is not surprising to find that, with
her love for the sunrise and her belief in death as
the beginning of beauty and life, she wrote that Death
was but "the drift of Eastern gray / Dissolving into
dawn away" (Further Poems, p. 191). In another image
she compares dawn v/ith something else that she loves:
A bird is of all things The likest to the dawn, An easy breeze does put afloat The general Heavens upon.
(Furxher Poems, p. 20)
63
Another analogy of dawn and^a b i rd i s t h a t of the
whippoorwil l "That e v e r l a s t i n g sings / Whose g a l l e r i e s
a r e sunr i se" (Fur the r Poems, p . 199). One of the most
impress ive images, al though i t i s simple, i s t ha t in
which a child* s f a i t h i s said to be "Wide - - l i k e the
sunr i se / On f resh eyes" (Fur ther Poems, p , 24) ,
An examination of the images from day and night
r e v e a l s t h a t Miss Dickinson, l i k e most o ther people,
found the daytime more cheering and more i n sp i r i ng
than the n i g h t . The image, "For p a r t i n g — tha t i s
n igh t / And presence simply dawn" (Fur ther Poems,
p . 157) , i s a good i l l u s t r a t i o n of her love for the
day. Another example of t h a t love i s "Dramas* s
v i t a l e s t express ion / I s the Common Day" (Further
Poems, p , 28) . Only tv/o images of night appear in
he r poems — a man*s hea r t i s "darker than the s t a r
l e s s n igh t " (Bol t s of Melody, p . 132), and death i s
" l i k e midnight , some, / Y/hen everything t ha t t icked
has stopped" (Complete Poems, p . 222).
Images from the c e l e s t i a l bodies are few in her
p o e t r y . Twice she uses the f igure of a s t a r dropping
from the sky: " t h e y , " (perhaps leaves] "dropped l i ke
s t a r s " (Complete Poems, p . 206) and a f r iend who died
"dropped as s o f t l y as a s t a r / From out my summer's
eve" (Complete Poems, p . 195) . The one other image
from s t a r s i s t h a t of the soul being "As gra -h ic as
64
a s t a r " (Bo l t s of Melody, p^ 114) . In one f igure from
a poem in v/hich she ph i losophizes on human l i f e , she
u s e s the in f luence on the t i d e s of the moon:
Each t h a t we lose t akes p a r t of u s ; A c rescen t s t i l l ab ides , Y/hich, l i k e the moon, some turb id n i g h t . I s suTfirioned by the t i d e s ,
(Complete Poems, p , 231)
The only image taken from the sun i s qu i te i n s i g n i f i c a n t :
" I made slow my r i c h e s but my gain / Was steady as the
s^^'' (Bo l t s of Melody, p , 106) , The one other image
from the heavenly bodies i s t h a t of a company of martyrs
"p lay ing around," "Harmless as s t r e aks of meteor /
Upon a p l a n e t ' s bound" (Complete Poems, p , 25) . •
Miss Dickinson uses only s ix images from the ear th
and eleven from t h e substances or elements of the e a r t h .
One of t h e most b e a u t i f u l i s t h a t v/hich i s found in
t h e l i n e s :
When t h a t which i s and t h a t v/hich was Apar t , i n t r i n s i c , s tand, And t h i s b r i e f t ragedy of f l e sh I s sh i f t ed l i k e a sand;
Behold the atom I p re fe r r ed To a l l the l i s t s of clay'.
(Complete Poems, p , 157)
Each of t he s ix images from the ear th or i t s component
p a r t s has fo r i t s subject the l i f e of man and h i s
d e s t i n y , Tv/o are tal 'en from unnatura l occurrences in
t h e e a r t h : l i f e i s "a s t i l l volcano. . . / That
65
flickered in the night" (Further Poems, p. ?6), r-ni
life has a "quiet, earthquake style" (Further rr.^.^
p. 36). The other images from the earth or rrrtr, of
the earth are: "Dropped my fate, a timid pebblp"
(Further Poems, p, 149); "Beware, lest this little
brook of life / Some burning noon go dry'," (Co-.->>tQ
Poems, p, 149); and
Such are the inlets of the mind; His outlets would you see, Ascend with me the table-land Of immortality.
(Bolts 2f Melody, p, 228)
Of the eleven images taken from the mineral
elements of the earth, four are from adamant, the
imaginary stone of impenetrable hardness: death is
"Dropped like adamant" (Further Poems, p. 100);
eternity is the "only adamant estate / In all identity*,"
(Bolts of Melody, p, 215); the universe is "A cobv/eb
wove in adamant," (Further Poems, p. 166); and, in en
image which also makes use of another mineral, the
south wind
. . . pours soft refrains
Into the lap of adamant. And spices, and the dev/. That stiffens quietly to quartz, Upon her amber shoe.
(Complete Poems, p. 94)
Other images from miner^^ls ^re these: "This is the
hour of lead / Remembered if outlived" (Further Poems,
66
p. 175), and "Soil of flint,if steadfast tilled /
Will rev/ard the hand" (Complete Poems, p. 59); "an
honest tear /is durabler than bronze" (Bolts of
Melody, p. 262); "drifted deep in Parian / The village
lies to-day" (Further Poems, p, 195); "November hung
his granite hat" (Bolts o^ Melody, p. 40); "as cool
to speech as stone" (Complete Poems, p, 232); and
Safe in their alabaster chambers, Untouched by morning and untouched by noon, Sleep the meek members of the resurrection. Rafter of satin, and roof of stone,
(Complete Poems, p, 182)
4. The Sea and Seafaring
Forty of Emily Dickinson's images are from the
sea and from seafaring, yet most of these images reveal
only a landsman' s general knowledge of the sea and
hence were derived, no doubt, from Miss Dickinson's
reading or general knowledge.
The sea images are used most often for effective
illustration or description. The ebb of the tide and
sunset appear to be her favorite analogies. Several
of the sea images are of this sort: "Sundovm crept,
a steady tide" (Complete Poems, p. 79); "the ebbing
day / Flowed silver to the v/est" (Complete Poems, p, 28):
"Oozed so in crimson bubbles /Day's departing tide"
(Bolts of Melodv, P. 195); and "hov; the fire ebbs like I II - , - *• ' ' '
billows" (Complete Poeris, p. 141), The only other
67
image from t i d e s i s "above obl ivion 's t ide there i s
a p ie r" (Bolts of Melody, p,' 307). Sunset i s the
subject of other comparisons. I t i s portrayed beaut i
f u l l y in such images as "gulfs of red and f l ee t s of
red / And crews of solid blood" (Bolts of Melody, p , 23).
Charac te r i s t i c s of the sea are employed to i l l u s
t r a t e obscure thoughts; for example, the human heart
i s portrayed as having narrow banks in which
I t measures l ike the sea In mighty, unremitting bass And blue monotonv.
(Bolts of Melody, p , 247)
and "you l e f t me boundaries of pain/Capacious as the
sea" (Complete Poems, p , 145).
An effect ive figure which appeals to the sense of
hearing i s t h i s : "The silence l ike an ocean ro l l ed , /
And broke against my ear" (Complete Poems, p . 44).
Shipvrreck and the fear of i t appear often, nearly
always in connection v/ith man's morta l i ty and h is
thoughts of the he rea f te r . For example, " l ike sa i lors
f ight ing with a leak / We fought mortality" (Bolts of
Melody, p . 54). In another figure there i s no struggle,
but mere acceptance of death:
I f my bark sink 'T i s to another sea. Mortality* s ground f loor I s icimortali ty.
(BoltF of "^elody, p
68
One image of death i s t h a t ^hich p e r t a i n s t o l i f e as
a sea or r i v e r : " thy sweet face has s p i l l e d / Beyond
my boundary" (Bol t s £f Melody, p . 151) . - Wil l ing
acceptance of death i s the impression l e f t by a f igure
remin i scen t of C h r i s t ' s suffer ing before h i s c ruc i
f i x i o n : "The r e e f s in old Gethsemane / Endear the
shore beyond" (Complete Poems, p , 30) . Once the poet
p o r t r a y s man's thought in the symbol of a shipwreck —
" I f wrecked upon the shoals of thought / How i s i t
with t he sea?" (Bol ts of Melody, p . 271).
Two of her sea images are from the ac t of drown
i n g . They a re s t r i c t l y imaginative:
This p a t t e r n of the way Whose memory drawns me l i k e the dip Of a c e l e s t i a l sea .
(Bo l t s of Melody, p . 152)
and:
A s ing le clover plank Was a l l t h a t saved a bee—
From sinking in the sky;
The b i l lows of circumference Were sweeping him away,
(Bol t s of Melody, p . 68)
Images from sh ip s , s a i l s and oars are used co lo r fu l ly .
Typical a r e " s h i p s of purple gent ly t o s s / On seas of
d a f f o d i l " (Complete Poems, p . 102) and
• •-^ -^^ . ^11 I III! immMttti. I ^ -tf'^t^ -
69
A sloop of ember s l i p s away Upon another sea And vn^ecks in peace a purple t a r . The son of e c s t a s y .
(Complete Poems, p . 140)
As he r imagery sugges ts , nature in i t s many
a spec t s was dear to Emily Dickinson. I t was her
companion even in i t s tyranny of storm and cold
wea ther . P rofessor Whicher says of her love for i t :
To an e x t r a o r d i n a r y degree she absorbed in to herse l f the atmosphere of the countryside where she was born and where she noted the contours of i t s h i l l s , the muta t ions of i t s c l imate , the v/ays of i t s flowers and b i r d s and f o l k . Her f a v o r i t e companions were the bee, the b reeze , and the b u t t e r f l y of the Dickinson meadow,^
Not s u r p r i s i n g i s i t then t ha t her nature images are
among Miss Dick inson ' s b e s t .
1 This Was a Poe t , p . 2 1 ,
CHAPTER I I I
riAGINATIVE IMAGES Am PSRSONIF^^A—'-
Emily Dick inson had no t on ly the irr M i
power t o draw v i v i d images from everyday l i f o ,•: *.
from n a t u r e , b u t she a l s o had t he pov.er ^c cr*'••'>
h i g h l y i m a g i n a t i v e f i g u r e s v/hich def ine ccncr^.-t^ly
s t a t e s , q u a l i t i e s , and emot ions . She recorr.irr>i
and s t u d i e d t h e i n t a n g i b l e q u a l i t i e s , the a b s t r a c t i o n s
which come t o man 's t h o u g h t , and by personi f icRt i - )n
and o t h e r images, she succeeded i n d e l i n e r t i r r >.or
o b s e r v a t i o n s . On t h e o t h e r hand she a l s o found 'V s t r i c t
images a means of d e f i n i n g concre te t h i n g s . A perFon^.I
e lement c r e e p s i n t o h e r imag ina t ive d e s c r i p t i o n s of
q u a l i t i e s , s t a t e s , and emot ions , making i t more
d i f f i c u l t f o r t h e r e a d e r of he r poems t o in te r i^ re t
h e r i m p l i c a t i o n s .
Some images a r e so h i g h l y imaginat ive or e l s e
such a m i x t u r e of images t h a t t h e y defy c l a s s i f i c a t i o n
o r even g r o u p i n g , a s f o r example:
V;e l i k e a h a i r b r e a d t h ' s c a p e , I t t i n g l e s i n t he mind Fa r a f t e r a c t or a c c i d e n t , L ike p a r a g r a p h s of wind.
( B o l t s of Melody, p . 121)
o r
"Escape" -- it is the basket In which the heart is caught
71
^Ihen dov/n some awful l?attlement The rest of life is dropped.
(Bolts £f Melody, p. 120)
The force of her originality, and her short but graphic
style is seen in abstract images. In her opinion, for
example, "Pain has an element of blank;" (Connl^te
Poems, p, 13), and "Ruin is formal, devil's v/ork /
Consecutive and slow --" (Bolts ££ Melody, p. 258).
Her v/ay of describing a storm was "the thunder crumbled
like a stuff — " (Complete Poems, p. 188), She calls
the absence of a dear friend "a scanty number, /
'Twould scarcely fill a two," (Further Poems, p, 163),
Some other abstract images seem to be a mere collection
of words rather than a figure meant to have any great
significance. The best examples of these figures are:
Not of detention is fruition. Shudder to attain Transport's decomposition follows — He is prism born.
(Bolts of Melody, p. 276)
and
The fascinating chill that music leaves Is earth's corroboration Of esctasy's impediment; 'Tis rapture's germination. (Bolts of Melody, p. 234)
In some of her images abstract qualities are defined
by abstractions. Some exaraples of these are: "beauty
is infinity" \£olts of Melody, p. 232); "constancy
72
became — A something l i k e a shame" (Complete Poems,
p . 311); and defea t i s "an outgrown anguish" (Com
p l e t e Poems, p . 224),
Some images become more concrete - - tha t i s
a b s t r a c t q u a l i t i e s and concepts assume more d e f i n i t e
o u t l i n e s . For example, the rainbow i s a "bent s t r i p e "
which s t r i k e s up "my ch i l d i sh / Firmament," (Fur ther —
Poems, p . 77); and the bat has "v/rinkled wings / L i k e
fa l low a r t i c l e " (Complete Poems, p . 137); i f the l a r k
i s s p l i t " y o u ' l l find the music, / Bulb a f t e r bulb,
in s i l v e r r o l l e d , " (Complete Poems, p . 169); the cheek
was "Al l crumpled" (Bol ts of Melody, p . 90); and,
"My husband" Women say S t rok ing the melody^
(Complete Poems, p . 177)
P e r s o n i f i c a t i o n s abound in Miss Dickinson*s poet ry .
Most of them have found t h e i r v/ay in to o ther chapters
of t h i s t h e s i s , but some are too abs t r ac t and f a n t a s t i c
t o be placed an3nArhere o ther than v/ith the imaginative
g r o u p . They can be divided i n t o two main groups —
na tu re p e r s o n i f i c a t i o n and p e r s o n i f i c a t i o n s of the
human body. The fev/ p e r s o n i f i c a t i o n s of the human
body are i n t e r e s t i n g . In one for example, the film
which comes over a dying p e r s o n ' s eyes i s " M o r t a l i t y ' s
o ld custom / J u s t locking up to d ie" (Further Poe-ns,
p . 32 ) . In another f igure Be l shazza r ' s l e t t e r i s said
73
to be an immortal "copy" which
The conscience of us all Can read without its glasses On revelation's wall.
(Complete Poems, p, 16)
Then there is the sunrise which is to the day "The
blindness that beheld and blest / And cound not find
its eye." (Bolts of Melody, p. 13). One of the other
personifications involving mankind is
The rose did caper on her check Her bodice rose and fell. Her pretty speech, like drunken men Did stagger pitiful,
(Complete Poems, p, 163)
Personifications of nature are definitely a
product of Miss Dickinson's originality. Some of the
figures are not outstanding, but most of them have a
strikingly new quality.
One personification of a flower is that which
begins with "some little arctic flower" that
Went v/andering down the latitudes. Until it puzzled came To continents of summer.
and concludes unexpectedly:
I say, as if this little flov/er To Eden wandered in — What then? V/hy nothircr, only Your inference therefrom'.
(Complete Poems, p. 150)
74
In one image Night is said to' keep "fetching stars /
To our familiar eyes" (Further Poems, p. 68). Some
other imaginative images which are of interest are
these:
How the old mountains drip with sunset. And brakes of dunl Hov/ the hemlocks are tipped in tinsel By the wizard sun*.
(Complete Poems, p. 141)
and, in an image which also deals with education is:
Through the dark sod As education The Lily passes sure Feels her white foot no Trepidation, Her faith no fear.
(Further Poems, p. 76)
In a personification of time several activities are
mentioned:
Grand go the years in the crescent above them; vVorlds scoop their arcs, and firmaments row, Diadems drop and Doges surrender, Soundless as dots on a disk of snow.
(Complete Poems, p. 183)
In this image as well as many others throughout her
poems, M5ss Dickinson combines figures. However,
instead of the usual resulting confusion of thought
in mixing figures, her images are usually deftly woven
into the content of the poem. One examnle of the
pleasing effecu of her mixed imagery is that in which
Sunset t h a t sc reens , r evea l s Enchancing what we s^e ' By menaces of amethyst And moats of mystery.
( M J t s of Melody, p , 22)
The e f f e c t i v e n e s s of mixed Images in the p oe.-.s u
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Emily Dickinson, However, . - . . ! .
l e s s fo r tuna t e in some of her mixed imagery, Cne
example of an i n a r t i s t i c mixed image i s tha t of a
dying^ man's eye — " l i k e a s k a t e r ' s brook / The busy
eye conge^aled" (.Further Poems, p , 100). other r.ixed
images a r e q u i t e s t r i k i n g : there i s an e ternal pipce
fo r man but kingdoms "Like the orchard / F l i t r a s s e t l y
away" (Complete Poems, p , 229), and of sorae unknown
persons i t i s said:
Banish a i r from a i r . Divide l i g h t i f you dare . They'll meet. While cubes in a drop Or pellets of shape Fit.
(Bol t s 2 f Melody, p . 280)
Miss Dick inson ' s imaginative images — the p^eneral,
a b s t r a c t , and concrete and her pe r son i f i c a t i ons are
r i c h and v a r i e d . Most of them are e f fec t ive because
the unusual cor n o t a t i o n s bring a reader sharply to
a t t e n t i o n . Many of them r e f l e c t the deep study of the
poe t on those i n t a n g i b l e , obscure q u a l i t i e s and s t a t e s
i n l i f e ; o the r s a re l i k e l y to s t r i k e out the vhiii or
f anc i fu l no t i ons of a moment's thought .
fciliMrin m* t
CONCLUSION
This analysis of the imagery in Emily Dickinson's
poetry has revealed several interesting conclusions
about her and about her art. The study of her images,
approximately twelve hundred of them, has revealed
the range of subject matter of her images. Always her
highly developed imagination is seen in the images, if
not in the content of the image, then in the way the
image is presented in the poem. In general, her images
are taken from two aspects of her life — from the
things which she knew intimately and those which she
knew from observation or reading. The fact that she
remained in seclusion a great part of her life makes
plausible the personal viewpoint of life which is drawn
in the poems, but, on the other hand, her individual
views approach universality in that they touch on those
themes of most interest to mankind.
Miss Dickinson's images seem to flow from her
imaginative mind v/ith ease and naturalness, perhaps
because she found most of her images in whatever was
most familiar to her — her garden, her fellow man and
his activities, her household. A large group are those
drawn from animals and the sea and seafaring, not from
plants and gardening as would be expected of one who
found Great pleasure in her garden. It is interesting
to note that many of her nature images deal with man
and his fate; nearly all of the images from ship\ rreck
77
are concerned with man's mortality and his belief in
a life hereafter. A remarkable aspect of her nature
imagery is that, although there are no images which
use sunset as a means of expression or illustration,
the prevalent subject of the figures v/hich describe
the sea and seafaring is that of sunset. Her full
creative power is evident in her nature images — the
pictures she draws are remarkable for their beauty
and for their faithfulness to truth of expression.
Images from mankind and his activities and rela
tionships comprise the main part of the images. The
chief deduction to be made from these figures is that
she was not a recluse from human society even if she
did not mingle v/ith it. Aspects of the h\iman body
furnish more than one hundred and ninety figures, almost
half of which are used chiefly as an effective means
for her descriptions of nature. Human relationships
pictured by Miss Dickinson are true to life. She has
a great number of images from this sphere of activity,
including some from people of all classes and ty^es.
But as a whole her images from human life and its acti
vities are derived from ordinary living — from the
trading, selling and labor of the business world, social
behavior, crimes, amusements and travel. These come
out of her general knowledge, from her keen observatior^,
or from her reading. The subjects of most of the images
from human life are those which she loved dearly, nature;
78
and those which she thought! much about, life and
eternity. The number of images from human relation
ships and from the practical arts and occupations is
almost the same; in both groups are approximately one
hundred and twenty-five images. From amusements and
roads and travel come forty-six images. From the
household arts come one hundred and forty-one images.
Miss Dickinson's simple, precise domestic images are
among the most effective of her figures. The figures
were taken from the realm of life most familiar to her,
and t^e majority of them depict some part or aspect
of nature — often the appeprance or quality of some
thing in nature. The remainder of her household
figures are, for the most part, portrayals of the
intangible elements of life, usually death. Images
from warfare are generally effective; those from the
fine arts are her poorest. Figures from learning and
literature were taken from her reading and her general
education in a cultural center, but her religion,
although knowledge of the Bible came as a result of
study and cultural environment, was strictly her own.
She knew the Bible thoroughly but chose to use that
knowledge as it best pleased her. Throughout her
poetry her startling imagery from the Bible and her
unorthodox attitudes toward religion stand out becrure
of their originality. According to conventional
78
and those which she thought* much about, life and
eternity. The number of images from human relation
ships and from the practical arts and occupations is
almost the same; in both groups are approximately one
hundred and twenty-five images. From amusements and
roads and travel come forty-six images. From the
household arts come one hundred and forty-one images.
Miss Dickinson's simnle, precise domestic images are
among the most effective of her figures. The figures
were taken from the realm of life most familiar to her,
and tl e majority of them depict some part or aspect
of nature — often the appearance or quality of some
thing in nature. The remainder of her household
figures are, for the most part, portrayals of the
intangible elements of life, usually death. Images
from warfare are generally effective; those from the
fine arts are her poorest. Figures from learning and
literature were taken from her reading and her general
education in a cultural center, but her religion,
although knowledge of the Bible came as a result of
study and cultural environment, v/as strictly her own.
She knew the Bible thoroughly but chose to use that
know:iedge as it best pleased her. Throughout her
poetry her startling imagery from the Bible and her
unorthodox attitudes toward religion stand out becpuse
of their originality. According to conventional
standards, she is usually* capricious in her rr-i...
tion of religion.
Among her images of the imaginative eroup rro
some of the most beautifully expressive, some of •h*,
most whimsical, and some of the least artistic of
her imagination. In general these images end thoro
from other groups all have as their objectives t).o
definition of indefinable spiritual qualities and
states, and the descriptions of the various asrects
of nature, physical states, emotions, and actions.
The scope of Miss Dickinson's imagery was fror.
the homeliest of figures of the everyday v/orld to V.e
most fanciful of the imaginative world. They range
from the momentary expression of a whim to the deepest
of philosophical thoughts. She created much out of
the narrow bounds of her experience. Her philosophical
thought and her concentration on the spiritual side of
man's life are clearly reflected in her imagery.
Throughout her poems are to be found images involving
her attitudes, opinions, or whimsical interpretations
of life, death, and eternity. Nature has a predorainant
place in her imagery, either as her subject or as the
vehicle of her expression. Her interests are clerrly
revealed in her imagery. Out of the midst of ordinary
life and thinking, Emily Dickinson emerged v/ith her
rich, imaginative mind that . v, . ' comprehended man and h^ physical world cle«.>i ^^^
s
e
BIBLIOGRAPHY t
Bianchi, Martha D. The Life and Letters of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Houghton MiffliiTCo., 1924.
Dickinson, Emily, Bolts of Melody, ed. Mabel L. Todd and M. R, BingKam. ~ w York: Harper Bros., 1945.
. Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, ed. Martha Bianchi, ' BoTiton: Little, i rov/n, and Co., 1925.
. Further Poems of gmily Dickinson, ed. Martha Bianchi. Boston: "Little, jbrown, and Co., 1929.
, Poems by Emily Dickinson, ed, Martha Bianchi. Boston: Little, Brov/n, and Co., 1945.
Spurgeon, Caroline F, E. Shakespeare' s Imagery and What It Tells Us. Cambridge: University Press, 1935.
Wells, Henry W. Introduction to Emily Dickinson. Chicago: Packard and Co,, 1947,
Whicher, George F, This Was a Poet, New York: Charles Scribner* s Sons, 193*5