Emily Dickinsons Poems Theme of Nature1

8/13/2019 Emily Dickinsons Poems Theme of Nature1

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Tanja Trkulja

Aleksandra Izgarjan, Nataa Karanfilovi

XIX century American literature

May 2010

EMILY DICKINSONS POEMS: THEME OF NATURE


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Emily Dickinsons work

Emily Dickinson was a poet who wrote nearly 1,800 poems although only seven

of her poems were actually published during her lifetime. Still, she didnt want these

poems to be published either. It made me wonder why she didntwant to share her

talent with the rest of the world. Maybe it was because she didnt feel that her poems

were good enough, or maybe she was scared that people could reject her feelings with

no one to understand her, or she was just selfish in the way she wanted to keep these

feelings for herself. Well, she had that right, since those were her feelings she put on

the paper. In one period of her life she wrote poem a day! Since she didnt lead a life

that could be called interesting nowadays, maybe this was her way of having fun and

speaking her mind without anyone trying to stop her. And it was difficult for a woman

to have her own opinion in the age she lived in. But, in this way, she could write

everything she was thinking with no need to say it, and maybe get herself in a difficult,

even shameful position.

Emily Dickinson wrote about many things she could experience, touch, see and

hear around herself. Among her poems we can distinguish theme of love, death,

religion, nature In many of her poems there are more than just one theme, andshe

showed that all of these things are connected. There is one particular theme that seems

to be the one that connects all of her thoughts in one whole, and that is the theme of

nature. Emily Dickinson was surrounded by nature all her life, and while growing up,

she managed to see more to it. She managed to find the meaning, not behind nature,

but that maybe, it was nature behind all other things in life and life itself. And in the

middle of everything, it was her, who could catch it all, and try her best to describe

what it was that she caught. Even if its not explicitly said in any of her poems, she was

the one who gave life to them and therefore her own self is the main theme in every

verse she wrote because everything she wrote, she wrote with her heart.


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Poems of nature

Emily Dickinson loved words. She used them freely and amazingly skillfully

in order to make her feelings and observations more material and real. Her perception

of the world was extraordinary and extremely detailed. Every little thing mattered to

her. While she was feeling safe in her garden, she observed every creature and miracle

of nature, including the tiniest ones. There was no being that she considered

insignificant. Even the smallest bug, bird or flower had their place in the great circle of

life. She saw nature as the mother of all living things. For her, nature was a gentle

mother who cared about all her children, unlike God, who she saw as an angry,

revengeful father. Since she was brought up in a society where men were the

oppressors, she find consolation that something so mysterious, so grand, so beautiful

and yet so gentle like nature, had to be female, and therefore a caring mother to every

living thing. Nature was neither judgmental nor vengeful. Nature was helpful and

loving, but still, it was most powerful force in the world. It was nature who gave lives,

and it was nature who took them as well. There was no man on Earth who could ever

change that. It occurred to me that she gave up on God because He, apart from the

fact to be considered male, was not flawless, but humanlike creation who had power

only because of all the prayers, and the fear the church dictated these days. And nature

was something no man was praying to, but still, there was no force stronger and more

flawless than that of nature. When I think about it, its not so hard to understand how

one can come up with this conclusion living the way Emily Dickinson lived, and feeling

all the things she felt:

Naturethe Gentlest Mother is,Impatient of no Child

The feeblestor the waywardest

Her Admonition mild


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In Forestand the Hill

By Travellerbe heard

Restraining Rampant Squirrel

Or too impetuous Bird

How fair Her Conversation

A Summer Afternoon

Her HouseholdHer Assembly

And when the Sung go down

Her Voice among the Aisles

Incite the timid prayer

Of the minutest Cricket

The most unworthy Flower

When all the Children sleep

She turns as long away

As will suffice to light Her lamps

Then bending from the Sky

With infinite Affection

And infiniter Care

Her Golden finger on Her lip

Wills SilenceEverywhere

(Dickinson, Emily and Rachel Wetzsteon,

The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson. No. 1, page 80)


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Emily Dickinson found her comfort in nature. At the same time she worshiped it,

and was terrified by it. It is because at the end of all the beauty and life she testified

while sitting in her garden, she saw inevitable mortality as well.

Will the readers and critics ever be able to fully understand what the poet was

trying to say? I dont think so. Poems are created out of feelings and feelings are

illogical. And, with everybody being different in some way or the other, thus

experiencing literature in their own way, who could tell for certain what the poet was

trying to say? I believe that there are no two persons in the whole world who would

share exactly the same opinion. And precisely that is the beauty of it! Thanks to the

poets, everyone can have a trip to their soul once in a while, and discover that little of

something they posses which makes everyone so special. I must admit that the style of

Emily Dickinson is not my favorite, but looking for my own meaning behind her words

was actually quite refreshing. I didnt reflect myself in poetry for a long time, since

somehow, it always seemed to hurt me. But finding myself in Emily Dickinsons poems

made me feel better, because what I experienced was completely different from what I

experienced while reading my favorite poets such as Branko Miljkovic, Sharl Bodler and

Jack Prever. I actually was happy.

A something in a summer's Day

As slow her flambeaux burn away

Which solemnizes me.

A something in a summer's noon

A depth -- an Azure -- a perfume --

Transcending ecstasy.


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And still within a summer's night

A something so transporting bright

I clap my hands to see --

Then veil my too inspecting face

Lest such a subtle -- shimmering grace

Flutter too far for me

(Dickinson, Emily and Rachel Wetzsteon,

The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson. No. 63, page 120-1.)

I can say for sure that this is my dearest poem of Emily Dickinson I read. The

words she used to describe what she sees are incredible. They reflect the struggle while

she was trying to find fitting words. Of course, there is no such thing as a fit or right

word when theres in question something as mysterious and untouchable as your own

feeling moved by the state of everything around you. While reading, I could see myself,

sitting on the stairs in front of my house, in the summer, trying to catch the smell Or I

should saytrying to be caught by smell? I wont say that Emily Dickinson was trying

to say this, but when I read this poem, I realize that there is magic everywhere and I

will definitely stop trying to fit in the logical real world. I stopped daydreaming because

I was told that was not normal. I stopped going to the park and sitting in the grass

because I was told that nothing productive would come from it. I stopped smiling at the

sky because I was told I look strange. I stopped saying how the air smells nice because

I was laughed at. And how wrong I was! In this poem I found a reason to exist. I found

the beauty I needed to see my own beauty I never acknowledged. The summers day,

the summers night, throw me in the state in which I still dont have and perhaps I will

never have appropriate words needed to describe what I sense. But it doesnt matter as

long as I can feel it. But Emily Dickinson was different from me, and she tried her best

to let the world know what they miss. She did it so gracefully and eloquently and yet so


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laconically that she deserves the highest respect I and anyone else who is familiar with

her work can have for her.

How the old Mountains drip with Sunset

How the Hemlocks burn

How the Dun Brake is draped in Cinder

By the Wizard Sun

How the old Steeples hand the Scarlet

Till the Ball is full

Have I the lip of the Flamingo

That I dare to tell?

(Dickinson, Emily and Rachel Wetzsteon, The Collected Poems of Emily

Dickinson. No. 110, page 147-8.)

In these lines we are able to see, how indescribable nature seems to the poet.

We can ask questions for every part of it, but we cannot give the answers for the same.

Every part of it provokes the most elevated feelings, but those feelings cannot alwaysbe described. This poem is completely dedicated to the capturing of the moment with

language, but ends with the impossibility of the same. We can see how she tries to

keep the memory of the beautiful sunset by asking questions. Even though I never saw

the sunset she did, I imagined my most beautiful sunset, and I felt overflowed with


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warmth. She doesnt dare to tell what she sees in fear of not being able to tell it

accurately, but still she managed to show so much, just by her complete delight.

Dickinson is frequently touched by this way that nature controls her. Very often she

does not have any other explanation but to describe nature as a wizard.

The Murmur of a Bee

A Witchcraftyieldeth me

If any ask me why

Twere easier to die

Than tell

The Red upon the Hill

Taketh away my will

If anybody sneer

Take carefor God is here

Thats all.

The Breaking of the Day

Addeth to my Degree

If any ask me how

Artistwho drew me so

Must tell!

(Dickinson, Emily and Rachel Wetzsteon, The

Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson. No. 44, page 115)

In this poem we can really see that even the tiniest creature could move her will

to write. In this case it was simple murmur of the bee she had a wish to record. I

couldnt possibly understand the way Emily Dickinson did, but it seems that just for a

moment she was ready to give up, and to let it all go unwritten. It was so hard to


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record all that she felt that she would rather die. Trying to find her own self while

writing this must have been hard. But by realizing that she cant run from who she

really is, she decided that she must tell what she sees. It was not up to her to change

the way nature made her to be, hers was to embrace the life and power she had, use

her own words and perception, and make it at least a little bit understandable to

someone she would like to show what she saw on that particular day.

This poem taught me a valuable lesson, and that means that I vow to speak my

mind every time I can, and always tell what I want and what I think is right. Its no

good to lie yourself or anyone else. You have to speak, and show what youre made of,

why you are special and unique, like Emily Dickinson was, and like we all are.


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Conclusion

In comparison to Romantics, Emily Dickinson had different approach to nature.

She was fascinated and more attracted to its tiniest and most insignificant inhabitants

while Romantics fascination was on the level of greatness, enormity and immensity.

Actually, most of the Dickinsons interest in nature was focused on the small areas of

her garden in which she spent her time planting and nurturing flowers, watching birds

and beetles thus perceiving every part of the garden and finding new inspiration in

every aspect of the same

Emily Dickinson believed that there is a special relationship between man and

nature. She dedicated her life to discovering all the aspects of this mysterious bond.

She found happiness and peace in her garden and wrote what she saw thus showing

how pure human mind can be in calm natural surroundings. Her poetry may sound and

look childish but there is profound meaning and deep feelings behind every word. She

deepened the saying Simple things give greatest pleasure in life by assigning this to

every living thing in the world. I am really glad that she didnt bother herself with

writing about political affairs in her country at the time, but she rather explored life

itself, experiencing it to its fullest.

Dickinson saw nature as godlike and she walked through life with that thought.

She didnt think that she would have to sacrifice herself during her life, while waiting

heaven in death. For her, heaven was already on Earth, and living was exactly what

made it so wonderful.

She knew that there is no point in seeking the truth behind the mysteries ofnature, but she enjoyed asking questions, and thus letting her imagination go wild and

free from all the boundaries. Those questions gave her strength to look more into

nature and found even more questions, thus proving how amazing and inconceivable

nature really is.


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She found that nature is also a mysterious power which leads to destruction and

tragic death. There was no way for a man to escape his destiny and thats why she

tried to make every one of her days on Earth most enjoyable and fun. While asking

questions she wanted to show that reason and logic cant solve the riddle of existence.

To her, nature is also a haunted house which mysteries she could not comprehend, but

still, she insisted on looking as far as she could.

But nature is a stranger yet;

The ones that cite her most

Have never passed her haunted house,

Nor simplified her ghost.

(Dickinson, Emily and Rachel

Wetzsteon, The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson. No. 96, page 139-40.)


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References

Dickinson, Emily and Rachel Wetzsteon. The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson.New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2003. Available at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ulsyzfa0TssC&printsec=frontcover&dq=emily

+dickinson+poems&hl=en&ei=_g34S_fTLMKO_Aa_3NzCCg&sa=X&oi=book_resu

lt&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false, last

visited on 22ndMay, 2010.

Martin, Wendy. The Cambridge introduction to Emily Dickinson. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print.

Doyle, Connie. Experiment in Green. Available at:http://www.spiritualitytoday.org/spir2day/894133doyle.html, last visited on 22nd

May, 2010.

Meyer, Michael. Thinking and Writing about Literature. Available at:http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/emilybio.htm, last visited on 22nd May,

2010.

Farr, Judith and Louise Carter. The Gardens of Emily Dickinson. Harvard: FirstUniversity Press, 2005. Available at:http://books.google.com/books?id=tK8nnFJ-

KxUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+gardens+of+emily+dickinson&cd=1#v=one

page&q&f=false,last visited on 22ndMay, 2010.
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Emily Dickinsons Poems Theme of Nature1