Sunday, January 24, 2010

Dickinson

My thoughts on Emily Dickinson are very chaotic. It was extremely difficult to comprehend what was being said. You could tell though, that there ware a lot of different emotions running through all of her poetry. I really just didn’t understand any poetry at all, honestly. I know how to interpret it and use the correct tools to analyze and write papers on it, but I just don’t understand what poets are trying to say 99.9 percent of the time.
It seems she has certain themes that she likes to stick to when writing her poems. Death sticks out in a lot of passages. I also see a lot of Heaven being spoken of as well. I like poem number 1052 in which she talks about know what Heaven is and where it is, even though she has not been there. She backs up this argument with stating that even though she has never seen the sea, nor the moor she still knows what a billow is and how the Heather looks. This is clear-cut to me. I can understand this and what she wants to say here. Sometimes it is hard to clearly see if Dickinson is stating something actual or using it as a metaphor for something else she is trying to say. I also like poem 441. I honestly am not sure why I like it but something about it sticks out to me.
One last poem I though was very insightful and interesting was poem 280. It was confusing to read this poem. It seems that there is something dreadful and sad going on inside her brain, like a thought or idea was dying. On the other hand though, it could just be a really bad headache with Dickinson finally giving in to the pain and knowing that it won’t last forever.
Reading these poems by her made me want to branch out on my knowledge of Emily Dickinson. When this semester is over, I think I will do some research on her and learn a little more on her background and life.

2 comments:

  1. I found it hard to read her stories as well.

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  2. Sometimes I don't think the poets know what they are talking about. I think it is more about a feeling than about the literal meaning of the words, :)

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