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the theme of death used in literature
death as a theme in literature
death in modern poetry
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The most feared aspect of life is also the most necessary. Death defines the human experience. In Emily Dickinson’s “Apparently With No Surprise”, she examines death from both a literal and specific to a metaphorical and over-arching perspective. Emily Dickinson shows us this through her poetry by explaining the aspects of death and how they relate to each and ever one of our lives. The apparent meaning of the poem is how death interacts in the cycle of nature, but closer readings reveal more intimate and complex meanings. Despite it being a necessary component of life, Dickinson often questions the timing and manner that her God chooses to carry out his duties. This poem uses subtle connotations, metaphorical allusions, and sly grammatical choices to convey both the awesome and arbitrary role that death plays in each and everyone one of our lives. On the exterior, the literal meaning of this poem centers on the cycles of nature. The poem opens with the lines “Apparently with no surprise / To any happy Flower / The Frost beheads it at its play” describing a flower who is sadly cut down by cold wintery frost (1-3). She shows the repetitive and constant interaction between God and nature by saying “the sun proceeds unmoved / To measure off another day / For an approving God” (6-8). This shows how the big picture aspects of life are not affected by the impact of death. Like clockwork, the cycles of nature continue on and on. To show the interactions of nature, Dickinson chooses to have alliteration between the main actors in her poem, the Flower and Frost. In a most literal sense, Dickinson appears to state that death is just but another part in the experiences of nature, uncontrolled by man, only by God. The final lines of the po... ... middle of paper ... ...lization of death until this poem. After this poem, Dickinson forms a new opinion on death, one that embraces death as a necessity in the completion of the life cycle of humanity. On the other hand, Dickinson could be using this term sarcastically. If taken in a sarcastic tone, Dickinson could be mocking nature, God, or both for the experiences in her life. The author could have seen the loss of a loved one as unnecessary, unjust, or superfluous. So, Dickinson could be mocking the institution of religion as a whole, claiming that their God does not actually provide for the people. Much like a detective, Dickinson’s poem follows an order of ascending size from the small Flower, to Frost, to the sun, to finally the largest item, God. In this tone, Dickinson follows and ends with an accusatory attitude towards God on his indifference towards the value of a human life.
Analyzing her poems shows that author do not have two poems that have exactly the same understanding of death. Death is sometimes gentle, sometimes menacing, and sometimes simply inevitable. In poem “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –,” Dickinson view the natural physical process of dying. This poem emphasize that death is a normal things and speakers is already dead and tell readers her experience of dying. She explained that there is a moment of calm between a storms of life and death. The author not just describing death, she also shows the feeling and last sensation before her death. There is disagreement over the symbolic significance of the fly and its relationship to the death of the
Dickinson’s poem has no life after death; her poem speaks of the finality of death. Compared to Whitman’s poem there is no recycling of life, only the blinding dark and loss of self. Dickinson’s poem ends with the line, “And then the Windows failed-and then I could not see-“(Dickinson 1248). This line emphasizes Dickinson’s point of there being no afterlife. Her grim tone is well defined throughout her poem as the speaker of the poem lies in their death bed, while others wait with breaths held in for the speaker to die. The tone of Dickinson’s poem carries a gruesome burden of weight in how death is inescapable and leaves the reader with a dark cloud over their heads of the inevitability of it all. The speaker of the poem awaits their death as “The Eyes around-had wrung them dry-And Breaths were gathering firm” (Dickinson 1248). Her poem steadily maintains her morbid tone throughout her writing, emphasizing her points and interpretation of death. Dickinson views death as the finale of life. She believes there is nothing left to be fulfilled
In the second stanza Dickinson continues with this thought that when death is put in front of you the world seems extremely different. She says, "We noticed smallest things- Things overlooked before." Watching someone die makes even the minutest details of living that do not seem important in everyday life noticeable. Death is like a "great light" that reveals these things that are always present to us. When one has death on their mind it makes the aspects of living become more prevalent in all of the senses. Dickinson even calls these small things were "italicized" to those who watched this woman die. When a word is italicized it is written slanted to draw attention to it. The death of this woman made every little thing around these people worthy of their attention Dickinson tells of the people at this woman's death moving "ou...
There is probably no one, among people, who has not considered death as a subject to think about or the events, people, and spirits that they would face after death. Also, since we were little kids we were asking our parents what death is and what is going to happen after we die. People have always linked death with fear, darkness, depression, and other negative feelings but not with Emily Dickinson, who was a reclusive poet from Massachusetts who was obsessed with death and dying in her tons of writings. She writes “Because I could not stop for Death” and in this particular poem she delivers a really different idea of death and the life after death. In the purpose of doing that, the speaker encounters death which was personalized to be in a form of gentleman suitor who comes to pick her up with his horse-drawn carriage for a unique death date that will last forever. In fact, she seems completely at ease with the gentleman. Additionally, their journey at the beginning seems pretty peaceful; as they pass through the town, she sees normal events such as children who are playing, fields of grain, and a sunset. After this, dusk takes place and the speakers gets chilly because she was not ready for this journey and she did not wear clothes that would make her feel warm. Consequently, readers get the idea that death is not a choice, so when it comes, that is it. Emily Dickinson, in her poem “Because I could not stop for Death,” uses personification, imagery, and style to deliver her positive and peaceful idea of death and life after death.
Although, Emily Dickinson physically isolated herself from the world she managed to maintain friendships by communicating through correspondence. Ironically, Dickinson’s poetry was collected and published after her death. Dickinson explores life and death in most of her poems by questioning the existence of God. Dickinson applies common human experiences as images to illustrate the connection from the personal level of the human being, to a universal level of faith and God. This can be seen in Dickinson’s Poem (I, 45).
Imagery is a big component to most works of poetry. Authors strive to achieve a certain image for the reader to paint in their mind. Dickinson tries to paint a picture of ?death? in her own words. Thomas A. Johnson, an interpretive author of Dickinson's work, says that ?In 1863 Death came into full statue as a person. ?Because I could not stop for Death? is a superlative achievement wherein Death becomes one of the greatest characters of literature? (Johnson). Dickinson's picture to the audience is created by making ?Death? an actual character in the poem. By her constantly calling death either ?his? or ?he,? she denotes a specific person and gender. Dickinson also compares ?Death? to having the same human qualities as the other character in the poem. She has ?Death? physically arriving and taking the other character in the carriage with him. In the poem, Dickinson shows the reader her interpretation of what this person is going through as they are dying and being taken away by ?Death?. Dickinson gives images such as ?The Dews drew quivering and chill --? and ?A Swelling of the Ground --? (14, 18). In both of these lines, Dickinson has the reader conjure up subtle images of death. The ?quivering an chill? brings to the reader's mind of death being ...
The two poems, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas and, “Because I Could Not Wait for Death”, by Emily Dickinson, we find two distinct treatments on the same theme, death. Although they both represent death, they also represent it as something other than death. Death brings about a variety of different feelings, because no two people feel the same way or believe the same thing. The fact that our faith is unknown makes the notion of death a common topic, as writers can make sense of their own feelings and emotions and in the process hope to make readers make sense of theirs too. Both Dickinson and Thomas are two well known and revered poets for their eloquent capture of these emotions. The poems both explore death and the
As the poem goes on, Dickinson conveys a change in tone with the use of diction and imagery “ We passed the Setting Sun- Or rather - He passed Us”(9-10), this image confirms that death will not wait for the narrator. The change is tone is also demonstrated in these two line. The tone changes from relaxing and peaceful to ominous and gloomy.
Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death” is about a person who rides a carriage with Death. Along the ride, the speaker is taken passed a school, fields, and the setting sun. This signifies going through life, each representing a different part of life. Death is the final destination in this poem and the afterlife is alluded to. Though the use of symbolism and imagery of the evolution of life, the personification of death, and symbolism of the carriage, Dickinson shows that although death will come when you are not prepared, you should welcome it because it is eternal.
First, Dickinson uses an extended metaphor in which she personifies Death to create an image of what the experience of death is like. Death is a common theme in literature, as well as the real world, and is typically portrayed as a very dark and intimidating concept. However, Dickinson introduces this concept of death in a unique manner by using an extended metaphor to compare the main character’s journey towards her death to a friendship. Death’s character is introduced in the first stanza, and the ‘friendship’ between the two characters begins to blossom. “Because [the main character] could not stop for Death”, one can tell that she is busy, and not ready for Death at the moment (1). This reveals that Dickinson interprets death to be unexpected and random - just like many new friendships; the author also portrays Death as a friendly character when she states that “he kindly stopped for [her]” (1,2). He clearly makes a proper first impression on the main character, and this is the first stage of their ‘friendship’. As Dickinson progresses in the poem, so does the friendship between Death
Emily Dickinson had a fascination with death and mortality throughout her life as a writer. She wrote many poems that discussed what it means not only to die, but to be dead. According to personal letters, Dickinson seems to have remained agnostic about the existence of life after death. In a letter written to Mrs. J. G. Holland, Emily implied that the presence of death alone is what makes people feel the need for heaven: “If roses had not faded, and frosts had never come, and one had not fallen here and there whom I could not waken, there were no need of other Heaven than the one below.” (Bianchi 83). Even though she was not particularly religious, she was still drawn to the mystery of the afterlife. Her poetry is often contemplative of the effect or tone that death creates, such as the silence, decay, and feeling of hopelessness. In the poem “I died for beauty,” Dickinson expresses the effect that death has on one's identity and ability to impact the world for his or her ideals.
Emily Dickinson became legendary for her preoccupation with death. All her poems contain stanzas focusing on loss or loneliness, but the most striking ones talk particularly about death, specifically her own death and her own afterlife. Her fascination with the morose gives her poems a rare quality, and gives us insight into a mind we know very little about. What we do know is that Dickinson’s father left her a small amount of money when she was young. This allowed her to spend her time writing and lamenting, instead of seeking out a husband or a profession. Eventually, she limited her outside activities to going to church. In her early twenties, she began prayed and worshipped on her own. This final step to total seclusion clearly fueled her obsession with death, and with investigating the idea of an afterlife. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, Dickinson rides in a carriage with the personification of Death, showing the constant presence of death in her life. Because it has become so familiar, death is no longer a frightening presence, but a comforting companion. Despite this, Dickinson is still not above fear, showing that nothing is static and even the most resolute person is truly sure of anything. This point is further proven in “I heard a Fly buzz”, where a fly disrupts the last moment of Dickinson’s life. The fly is a symbol of death, and of uncertainty, because though it represents something certain—her impending death—it flies around unsure with a “stumbling buzz”. This again illustrates the changing nature of life, and even death. “This World is not Conclusion” is Dickinson’s swan song on the subject of afterlife. She confirms all her previous statements, but in a more r...
Dickinson uses many ways to get her point across. She uses metaphors, imagery, and personification. Throughout her poem she refers to death as he, giving him a human form so people could look at it differently. She also uses metaphors, like setting sun, grazing grain, and children to represent different stages of life. The rhythm also sets the mood of the poem. Since it has a darker feeling to it, readers can get the right feeling and mood about her poem to understand it better.
For Dickinson, on the contrary, death is not something unreal. As the author has written "Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me..." After reading these two lines the reader "imagines the picture of Death being a human which joins the author during the ride" . Dickinson tries to portray the characteristics of death in the poem. Stating that there is eternity after death, the author alludes both the possibility of the life after death and absolute zero-ness of it. Unlike Plath, Dickinson not only talks about the notion of death, but personalizes it. The reader feels that the author in fact...
Throughout Emily Dickinson’s poetry there is a reoccurring theme of death and immortality. The theme of death is further separated into two major categories including the curiosity Dickinson held of the process of dying and the feelings accompanied with it and the reaction to the death of a loved one. Two of Dickinson’s many poems that contain a theme of death include: “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” and “After great pain, a formal feeling comes.”