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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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