An Explanation of Haunting Thoughts in Emily Dickinson's Poem 670

656 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Obsession with death in Emily Dickinson's poem

An Explanation of Haunting Thoughts in Emily Dickinson's Poem 670

Poem 670 is about the inner workings of your mind. The beginning of this poem addresses everyone. She does that by saying, "One need not be a Chamber....One need not be a House." This is saying whether you are small like a chamber or big like a house you will be haunted in your mind. The phenomenon of haunting thoughts, in your brain, exceed anything externally at that moment. Your mind becomes totally focused on the inner dealings that external people or actions are perceived as ghosts. It is literally an internal takeover of your senses. Anything external from there becomes warped and then a part of the haunting in the tunnels or corridors of your mind. We all know this as being scared or getting spooked.

In life we've all been spooked! Regardless of our upbringing and/or size, we have all been caught jumping at that last moment. Why is this? Emily Dickinson addresses this in her poem. She says whether you are a small chamber room or a large house you will be haunted. The haunting comes from within...the corridors of your brain. When we sit in a movie, attend a haunted house, sitting in the dark, or just sleeping, our minds shift into creative mode. Stop and think for a moment about those times you have been spooked...okay times up! It's that moment your blood reaches a fast pumping pace, and you think you are about to jump out of your seat. All of this is created by the mental images you have formed regarding what your visual and aural senses have taken in as unknown or uncertain. Your adrenaline is pumping and you start to wonder what will happen next. Will the killer come from behind the door, under the bed, out of the bathroom? You start to anticipate the outcome and think you have figured out the next move, and then the storyteller brings the killer in from a totally different direction. We all know that there is nothing better than the feeling of adrenaline pumping through every "corridor" of your body. This reaction is not a result based on our surroundings in fact, quite the opposite. Dickinson says that our inner thoughts "surpass material Place." The spook is a direct reflection of how creative we let our brains become. Weaving together sections of complete thought to create other ideas, leaves us wondering what will be next.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Feminism In A Doll's House

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Doll House, a play written by Henrik Ibsen, published in the year 1879, stirred up much controversy within its time period because it questioned the views of society's social rules and norms. "Throughout most of history... Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions... The resulting stereotype that 'a woman's place is in the home' has largely determined the ways in which women have expressed themselves" ("Women's History in America"). Ibsen places many hints throughout his play about the roles of women and how they were treated in his time. Nora is perceived as a typical housewife; maintaining the house and raising her children. However, Nora had actually hired a maid to do all of those typical housewife duties for her. Nora was naive, and ambitious. She hid many secrets from her husband. The way women were viewed in this time period formed a kind of barrier that Nora could not overcome. Women should not be discriminated against just because of their gender and within reason they should be able to do what their heart entails.

    Read More

  • The Nursing Shortage

    2000 Words  | 4 Pages

    During World War I and World War II, America called upon thousands of women to become nurses for their country to help in hospitals and overseas units. America’s calling was considered a success and by the end of World War I, 23,000 nurses served in Army and Navy cantonments and hospitals, 10,000 served overseas, and 260 either died in the line of duty or from the influenza pandemic (“Nursing Reflections”, 2000, p. 18). In the early 1930s, nurses experienced the devastation of the depression. Families were very poor and unable to feed themselves let alone pay for a nursing visit. This caused many nurses to seek work elsewhere. Nurses who were lucky to be empl...

    Read More

  • Emily Dickinson Poems Analysis Essay

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reading a poem by Emily Dickinson can often lead the reader to a rather introspective state. Dickinson writes at length about the drastically transformative effect a book may have upon its’ reader. Alternating between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, Dickinson masterfully uses the ballad meter to tell a story about the ecstasy brought by reading. In poem number 1587, she writes about the changes wrought upon the reader by a book and the liberty literature brings.

    Read More

  • Evolution Of Nursing

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the past, nursing was not considered a career. It was the women’s job to care for the sick. Care of the sick took place at their homes. Sending the sick to hospitals was considered a last resort. Hospitals were viewed as poor houses because of their high death rates, poor hygiene, and lack of infection control. (Balch). Today nursing is viewed completely different thanks to the contribution of nursing theorist, such as: Florence Nightingale, Dorothea Dix, Lavinia Dock, Mary Nutting, Dorothea Orem, Abraham Maslow, to name a few. Nursing has evolved from being a simple occupation to an important profession. A profession

    Read More

  • An Interpretation of Emily Dickinson's Poem #315

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    Emily Dickinson had an interesting life, and is a profound woman in the history of America and literature. Emily wrote many poems. Some are titled, and many are given chronological numbers instead of headlining the main theme. I am interpreting Poem #315.

    Read More

  • A Career in Nursing

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    As caretakers of children, family, and community, it was natural that women were the nurses, the caregivers, as human society evolved. Nursing may be the oldest known profession in the world. The Civil War gave enormous boost to the building of hospitals and the development of nursing as a credentialed profession that was led to greater respect for nurses, something that the congresses acknowledge in the year of 1872. Linda Richards was America’s first professional trained nurse. Like most educational institutions during that time, the schools did not admit African Americans, and the informally trained black woman who nursed during the Civil War. The war was served as the beginning of moving the profession from the home to the hospitals and clinics. “There was an explosion of nursing schools in the late nineteenth century.”(www.nwhm.org) Most of the schools were associated with hospital.

    Read More

  • A Doll's House Realism Essay

    1918 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House we encounter the young and beautiful Nora on Christmas Eve. Nora Helmer seems to be a playful and affectionate young woman full of life and zeal. As the play progresses, we learn that Nora is not just a “silly girl” (Ibsen) as Torvald refers to her. She learns of the business world related to debt that she acquired by taking out a loan in order to save her beloved Torvalds life. Although Krostad’s blackmail does not change Nora’s whimsical nature it opens her eyes to her underappreciated potential. “I have been performing tricks for you, Torvald,” (Find diff quote perhaps?) she exclaims in her confrontation with Torvald. She realizes that she has been putting on a facade for

    Read More

  • Exploring Nursing: A Comprehensive Guide to Career Sustainability

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    This research paper is about nursing. Throughout this paper many questions will be answered pertaining to nursing such as the academic requirements, employment opportunities and outlook, salary, and its benefit to society. When thinking of your dream job it is important to think about how sustainable it is. This will be another very important question that will be answered.

    Read More

  • Henrik Isben's A Doll's House

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ment about how Torvald doesn’t like for her to eat them. Nora lies and says Kristine brought them too her. As Nora’s secret side is revealed, her life seems anything but perfect. As we look at the character change in Nora, we see two different sides to her. The beginning of the play reveals a woman totally dependent on her husband for everything,. It isn’t until the end of the play that she realizes she can be herself and she doesn’t have to depend on her husband. Nora realizes “that if she wants an identity as an adult that she must leave her husband’s home” (Drama for Students 112). By examining Nora, we see from Ibsen’s theme that if we ignore all the expectations the social world has for a person, our true selves can be revealed.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis of Emily Dickinson's Poetry

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    Literary Analysis of Emily Dickinson's Poetry. Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous authors in American history, and a good amount of that can be attributed to her uniqueness in writing. In Emily Dickinson's poem 'Because I could not stop for Death,' she characterizes her overarching theme of Death differently than it is usually described through the poetic devices of irony, imagery, symbolism, and word choice. Emily Dickinson likes to use many different forms of poetic devices and Emily's use of irony in poems is one of the reasons they stand out in American poetry. In her poem 'Because I could not stop for Death,' she refers to 'Death' in a good way.

    Read More

  • Emily Dickinson's Obsession with Death

    2687 Words  | 6 Pages

    Emily Dickinson's Obsession with Death. 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.

    Read More

  • Social Symbolism In A Doll's House By Henrik Ibsen

    1553 Words  | 4 Pages

    Henrik Ibsen wants to make in his play. He wants to let society know that the women are living in a masculine society and that society will not always win in the battle of humans versus society. On page 1403, the book says, “A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day…” With using society’s customs, deception, and symbolism Henrik Ibsen is able to make his point. With social customs, Henrik Ibsen challenges the way the woman are suppose to act. In the beginning of the play, society would have been happy, however as the reader reads on society’s ideas are pushed aside and Nora becomes her own person. Henrik Ibsen uses deception to show society what they force the people to do. For example, the reader sees that Nora has to lie about everything because society will not take her the way she is. To her, she sees nothing wrong with borrowing a little money to save her husband, but society will not have it. For example, Helmer says, “Now you have destroyed all of my happiness. You have ruined all my future. This horrible to think of!” (1395). He also says, “… The matter must be hushed up at any to appease him some way or another.” (1395). These quotes go to show that society will not take what Nora has done save to her husband’s life very well. Finally, Henrik Ibsen uses symbolism to help get his point across. With symbolism, the reader sees a connection between the tree and Nora. When the tree begins to lose it decorates, Nora loses her cover up too. The reader begins to see the real Nora and how she does what she thinks she has to do. Henrik Ibsen is able to win his battle of society versus humans in A Doll

    Read More

  • A Doll's House Marriage Analysis

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ibsen’s play is set up in the first act to present to the readers a happy marriage. The house is well furnished with a piano, Christmas is around the corner, and Nora has just arrived home after an afternoon of shopping. Nora and her husband exchange flirty and friendly introductions,

    Read More

  • Themes of Death and Immortality in Emily Dickinson's Poetry

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.”

    Read More

  • The Development Of Nursing And Nursing Theory In The 20th Century

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    Regardless of the title used, nurses have been an integral part of caring for other people as far back as history goes, although it was not until the 20th century that nursing was recognized as a profession (Wikipedia). Nursing becoming a profession of its own was due largely in part to the work done by Florence Nightingale, often referred to as the mother of modern nursing. Nightingale's vision was the inspiration for opening of both hospitals and nursing education programs throughout the world, including the United States, upholding Nightingale's vision and principles (Villanova). Through the emergence of nursing throughout history, education through clinical experience as well as book studies has been at the forefront, particularly beginning in the late 1800s as nursing theories began to emerge. Nursing theories are defined as "an organized framework of concepts and purposes designed to guide the practice of nursing" (Nursing Theory). Nurses use these models to guide patient care and critical thinking skills while providing an overall foundation for the profession of nursing. Many of the nursing theories from the mid 1900s can be grouped into subcategories, one of which is need based, referencing Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The needs theories were established on the premise of individuals being able to

    Read More

More about An Explanation of Haunting Thoughts in Emily Dickinson's Poem 670

Open Document