POETRY

Analyzing Poem by Emily Dickinson

“Heart, we will forget him”

By : DayDream Group

Dwi Lisa Susanti 08/268172/SA/14506Elya Aprilia 08/267861/SA/14322Hana Farida 08/268233/SA/14542Sri Saraswati 08/267906/SA/14346Wahyu Indatun 08/268257/SA/14552

FACULTY OF CULTURAL SCIENCESGADJAH MADA UNIVERSITY

2010

Heart, we will forget himBy Emily Dickinson

Heart, we will forget him,

You and I, tonight!

You must forget the warmth he gave,

I will forget the light.

When you have done pray tell me,

Then I, my thougts, will dim.

Haste! Lest while you’re lagging

I may remember him.

A. The Era

Dickinson wrote during the era of American literature known as the Age of Expansion.

This was during the first half-century after the Civil War to the First World War which

was approximately 1865-1915. During this time period, American literature went

through many drastic changes. American writers progressively moved from

romanticism to realism. Realism was a much more realistic interpretation of humanity

and its destiny. Although Dickinson is considered a writer from the Age of Expansion,

her style of writing combined elements from the Romantic and Realism eras.

Her poems were pure in nature often a mirror of everyday life. Ranging from birds, to

gardens, to domestic duties, her poems were a reflection of the life that she built for

herself. Unlike the flowery Romantic poems of her day, her poetry was filled with wit,

sarcasm, and a striking honesty.

Emily Dickinson wrote at the tail end of the Romantic period, and even though she was

influenced by some of the ideals of Romanticism, is most commonly known as a writer

from the Realist era. However, her writing embodies the defining characteristics that are

identified with each of these periods. Some of her poems contain trancendentalism

influences.

The Transcendentalist movement began flourishing in the early 19 th century America,

especially in New England. In America "transcendentalism" was mostly used in a

literary form having a semireligious nature. American transcendentalism is not a

religion; it is a pragmatic philosophy, a state of mind, and a form of spirituality. It is not

a religion because it does not adhere to the three concepts common in major religions: a.

a belief in a God; b. a belief in an afterlife; and c. a belief that this life has consequences

on the next. Transcendentalism does not reject an afterlife, but its emphasis is on this

life.

B. The Writer

Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1830. She was the

second child born to Emily Norcross (1804-1882) and Edward Dickinson (1803-1874),

a Yale graduate, successful lawyer, Treasurer for Amherst College and a United States

Congressman. Dark times were soon to fall on Emily. In 1864 and 1865 she went to

stay with her Norcross cousins in Boston to see an eye doctor whereupon she was

forbidden to read or write. Dickinson herself had been afflicted for some time with her

own illness affecting the kidneys, Bright’s disease, symptoms of which include chronic

pain and edema, which may have contributed to her seclusion from the outside world.

Emily Dickinson died on 15 May 1886, at the age of fifty-six. She now rests in the West

Cemetery of Amherst, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. She was buried in one of the

white dresses she had taken to wearing in her later years.

Emily Dickinson is considered as one of the most original 19th Century

American poets. In Emily Dickinson’s poetry there are three main themes that she

addresses: death, love, and nature. She admired the works of John Keats and Elizabeth

Barrett Browning. Throughout her life, she seldom left her house and visitors were

scarce. The people with whom she did come in contact, however, had an enormous

impact on her thoughts and poetry.

Although she never defined a lover in her poems, many critics do believe that

the object or focal point of her passion was Charles Wadsworth, a clergyman whom she

met on a trip to Philadelphia. He left for the West Coast shortly after a visit to her home

in 1860, and some critics believe his departure gave rise to the heartsick flow of verse

from Dickinson in the years that followed. Although he was kind to her, he did not

return her love. When he departed, she took to dressing entirely in white.

C. Theme, Figurative Language, Symbolism, Rhyme, and Message.

Theme : This poem emphasizes the theme of an unrequited love and trying desperately

to forget a lover. It can be proven by using the word forget three times in the first stanza

that she is trying to tell her broken heart that it must mend and that she must forget

about him.

Figurative Language : The fact that the woman talks to her heart is a metaphor,

because she probably only thinks the things she supposedly says. The heart is

personified, because it's ordered to do several things for the woman.

Symbolism : The heart is a symbol for love, and in this poem it symbolizes lost love.

The poem is about lost love, and a broken heart or heartsickness.

Rhyme : The rhyme scheme here is ABCB. The perfect rhymes are “tonight” and “light” ,

“dim” and “him” (they share the same vowel and consonant sound at the end of the

word).

Message : The message of the poem might be that people might have a broken heart at

times, but things will get better if one thinks positive.

D. Analysis

Specifically, the meaning of each poem’s line is as follow

Heart, we will forget him,

It almost likes a demand of the poet’s mind for her heart to forget a man she once

loved. 

You and I, tonight!

Both of the poet’s mind and heart should forget a man as soon as possible. The dash

after the word "tonight" emphasizes the importance of the task that should be done

eventually.

You must forget the warmth he gave,

The heart has to forget the warmth which means a love that she once felt from the man

I will forget the light.

The mind will forget the light which means the kindness and sincerety of the man.

Those kindess and sincerity just like the internal glow that one perceives in people

When you have done pray tell me,

She asks the heart to tell her mind when it finishes forgetting. So the mind would not

have too much trouble in forgetting

Then I, my thougts, will dim.

Again, when the heart is finished, the mind could forget the man easier

Haste! Lest while you’re lagging

"Hurry!" the mind tells the heart. While the heart has not forgotten, the mind is still

thinking on him, and the pain is rough

I may remember him.

The mind might still remember the man if the heart does not finished its task

quickly

The poem is about lost love. At first glance it may appear that a woman fell in

love with a man and the man doesn't seem to be interested in her and left the woman.

The woman is then completely crushed and heartbroken. Therefore, she tries to

convince herself to forget about him. She is trying to tell her heart to erase memories

about the “he” the poet is referring to in the poem. Emily Dickinson knows that without

the heart’s cooperation, she would never be able to forget her love. The heart is

supposed to forget the warmth “he” carved into it. While the speaker had to forget the

light he produced to light up her days. Practically, the heart which is personified in this

poem, takes care of the feelings the lover transmits to the poet, while the poet is in

charged of the thoughts and memories of the lover’s image.

But she warns her heart to tell her right away when its job of forgetting has been

carried out. She and her heart must do their jobs of forgetting and all this should be

done quickly because if the heart can’t accomplish its tasks, she may recall him again

(which could lead her to love). This second stanza may have some contrasts, because

the woman tells her heart to forget the warmth it gave her. In this stanza she says that

the heart has to tell her when it's done forgetting, so that her thoughts may dim, and if it

doesn't she might remember him. This might be a contrast, because she says what might

happen if she forgets him, and what might happen if she doesn't forget him.