Ambiguity In Emily Dickinson's Poetry

Opaque, suggestive language raises more interpretive questions than it answers in Emily Dickinson’s poetry. This style, found in so many of her poems, allows for thought provoking, powerful pieces of literature. Ambiguity also makes it difficult for the reader to pin down precise meanings. While the “great pain” referred to in 341 could be about a wide variety of things, it most likely alludes to the pain of losing someone whether that be by death or through the loss of a friendship or lover. The first three words seem fairly straightforward, whereas the following “formal feeling” kicks the brain in gear. Could she be referring to the people at funerals who attempt to suppress their emotions. Considering funerals are generally a step in the process of death that would make sense.

Dickinson’s use of “ceremonious” and “tombs” seems to confirm suspicions of the funeral sense. “The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs,” personifies nerves by giving them the human action of sitting. On top of this personification, Dickinson compares the nerves to tombs. Considering that nerves are generally what we feel with and the fact that tombs do not feel, we get a sense of numbness that can often be associated with the loss of a loved one. The greatest ambiguity of this particular poem is found on line 3, “The stiff Heart questions was it He that bore”.

The heart, personified, seems to be referring to another person, unless the heart also talks in the third person. Since the he is capitalized, it is easy to believe that Dickinson is actually alluding to Jesus. If this is the case, could she be blurring the line of time in order to demonstrate how pain is recurring no matter the century, and the numbness that follows resonates with many. Line 5 does not quite give us the sense of ultimate death, but more of a zombie feel. The imagery of a person walking mechanically gives us the sense of someone caught between life and death.Once again, Dickinson is seemingly describing the emotional numbness of losing a loved one. My final point come from the final stanza,’Remembered, if outlived, As Freezing persons, recollect the snow”. A simile comparing the people freezing to death in the snow to remembering the numbing pain after a death. Again, the contradiction gives the feeling that someone is caught between life and death. I think this particular poem conveys the sense of confusion that shakes us when we experience a great

pain.