UNIVERSITY OF SARAJEVO

YEAR: 2012/2013

Faculty of Philosophy

English Department

ESSAY:

Nature in Dickinson's poetry

Mentor : prof.dr. Zvonimir Radeljković Student: Amina Mujanović

Introduction

As most of her contemporaries and poets from Romantic period, Emily Dickinson was

inspired by beauty of nature and her poetry creates a unique and personal image of rural New-

England.

Emily Dickinson, was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, on 10 December 1830. Her father,

Edward Dickinson, a prominent lawyer and Treasurer for Amherst College, was a strong

advocate of education, so Emily was introduced to classic literature and other studies at early

age. She attended primary school on Pleasant Street and in 1850, with her sister Lavinia,

Emily continued her education at Amherst Academy where she took classes of botany, classic

literature, Latin and history. During her time at Academy, she meet Jane Humphrey, Susan

Huntington Gilbert (later wife of Emily's brother Austin) and Leonard Humphrey, the new

principal of Amherst Academy. On March 25, 1848, while attending Mary Lyon's Mount

Holyoke Female Seminary, her brother arrived to take her back home, most likely because of

her poor health. At home, Emily wrote some of her most important works . Following years of

her life where marked by sickness and death of her closest relatives. After her father died in

1874, Emily withdrew from social life and focused on her writing. During this period, she

made copies of her work, creating manuscript books (forty fascicles with eight hundred

poems). In 1886, Emily Dickinson died, and her sister Lavinia found her manuscripts. Four

years after her death, first volume of her poems was published.

Nature in Emily Dickinson’s poetry

Emily Dickinson spent most of her life in her homestead in Amherst surrounded by beauty of

nature. As a young girl, she studied botany and made herbariums, describing different plants

and flowers in details. Also, she lived in the period when most of New-England was

unexplored, covered by forests and wilderness. Being a true follower of Romantic period,

Emily Dickinson took inspiration from nature and created beautiful poems with huge

emotional impact. We can divide her writing period into three parts and one of them belongs

to the period of poems with nature as main theme. She connected her mood with the images

from nature, sometimes describing nature as a beautiful change and sometimes as huge

destruction. The speaker of her poem is an observer, a traveller that enjoys in nature, its

changing seasons, the colours and the beauty.

“ Nature, the gentlest mother, impatient of no child, The feeblest or the waywardest, her

admonition mild. In the forest and the hill, by traveller is heard restraining rampant, squirrel

or too impetuous bird. ”1

In poem Nature- the Gentlest mother is, Emily Dickinson describes nature with all her

senses, we can see forests and hill and hear the sound of birds and squirrels in the trees. She

gives respect to nature by calling her the gentlest mother, as if nature is her protector and her

shelter. Nature is a mother that protects her children and offers them unconditional love:

“How fair her conversation, a summer afternoon, Her household her assembly...Her voice

among the isles..”2

Emily Dickinson often connected nature with God. As many Romantic followers, she

believed that nature brings us closer to God and that it was important to establish a spiritual

1 Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Hayes Barton Press, 1955, pg.8972 Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, pg.897

connection with nature, as we establish a special connection with God. She used elements of

religion combined with elements of nature to create this unique image.

The talent to create a perfect poetic image without naming the object of the description can be

seen in her poems "It sifts from Leaden Sieves", "A narrow Fellow in the Grass" and "A Bird

came down the Walk". In “ It sifts from leaden Sieves „ Emily Dickinson describes the beauty

of a winter without mentioning snow. The speaker of the poem is fascinated by coming winter

and observes the change in nature around him: “ It sifts from leaden sieves, it powders all the

wood, it fills with alabaster wool the wrinkles of the road. „ 3The mood of the poem is sad, as

if the speaker is mourning the passing of the summer and the element of snowing can be

connected to the coming of the death (snow symbolises death). Slowly the atmosphere of the

poem changes to more brighter one and the speaker happily embraces the coming of the

winter as if he had embraced the coming of the death. The deeper meaning of the poem

reflects Emily Dickinson's spiritual relationship with nature and her ability to describe her

inner state, while elements of nature enhance the beauty of the poem.

Being surrounded by the death of her close relatives, Emily Dickinson focused on the theme

of death, again connected to the images from nature. In her poem I’ll tell you how the Sun

rose, the speaker describes sunset and sunrise or the passing of the day: “I’ll tell you how the

sun rose, a ribbon at a time. The steeples swam in amethyst, the news like squirrels ran. The

hills untied their bonnets, the bobolinks began. ”4

In this poem Emily connects elements from nature (sunrise and sunset) with the circle of life

(birth and death). The symbol of ribbon represents innocence, the excitement of squirrels

3 Sharon Leiter, Critical Companion to Emily Dickinson: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work, Infobase

Publishing, 1. 1. 2007., pg.128

4 "CPP - Ill Tell You How the Sun Rose - Emily Dickinson." CPP - Ill Tell You How the Sun Rose - Emily

Dickinson. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

symbolise the pace of life while passing of Sun represents the passing of life. The poem is

full of descriptions and colours such as grey, yellow and red, which enhance the atmosphere

of passing day.

Few of her nature poems have a deeper meaning and are connected to the state of inner mind.

In these poems nature is combined with human’s mind and the theme is more philosophical.

The poem  "What mystery pervades a well!" describes the fear of unknown, the power of nature

and our view of unknown. The image of a “well” represents mystery and fear, because of its

depth and can be compared to “an abyss”. Nature in the poem is powerful and frightening, the

observer is overwhelmed by its complexity, nature is a stranger, a haunted house for him.

“But nature is a stranger yet; The ones that cite her most have never passed her haunted

house nor simplified her ghost.”5

Conclusion

“ Thus Ms.Dickinson treatment of Nature in her poetry distinguished her from other Nature

poets. While some of her early poems contain a conventional praise of Nature, as the gentlest

mother, her mature attitude is absolutely different. For her Nature remains mysterious and

elusive and suffers a challenge to explore her hidden secrets.” 6

Nature poetry of Emily Dickinson is full of meaning and can be read from many angels. With

the use of metaphors she creates a unique image of nature, sometimes describing her as gentle

guardian and sometimes as powerful and destructive force. Her poems are almost always

combined with religious elements, nature is her personal bond with God, and the inspiration

from nature brings her closer to the divine power of God. A mixture of emotions, creativity

and personal memories transforms her poems into unique image of life and beauty.

5 Richard Benson Sewall, The life of Emily Dickinson, Harvard University Press, 1994 , pg.2086 Neeru Tandon & Anjana Trevedi, Thematic Patterns of Emily Dickinson’s Poetry, Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2008., pg.49

Bibliography:

1. Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Hayes Barton Press, 1955,

2. Neeru Tandon & Anjana Trevedi, Thematic Patterns of Emily Dickinson’s Poetry,

Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2008

3. Richard Benson Sewall, The life of Emily Dickinson, Harvard University Press, 1994

4. Sharon Leiter, Critical Companion to Emily Dickinson: A Literary Reference to Her

Life and Work, Infobase Publishing, 1. 1. 2007.,

Web sources:

1. CPP - Ill Tell You How the Sun Rose - Emily Dickinson." CPP - Ill Tell You How the Sun Rose - Emily Dickinson. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

2.  "Emily Dickinson." : The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.