Analysis of Language, Imagery, and Diction of Dickinson’s Poetry

Language, Imagery, and Diction in Emily Dickinson's Because I could not stop for Death, A narrow Fellow in the Grass, and I felt a Funeral in my Brain

All good poets use the basic literary techniques of figurative language, imagery, and diction in their poems. However, only great poets use these techniques to transmit an experience to the reader; Emily Dickinson was one these poets. She used these techniques to bring the reader a new perception of life, and to widen and sharpen the readers’ experiences.

Dickinson’s poetry strongly affects the minds of her readers because she uses many forms of figurative language, such as, irony, personification, paradox, and similes. For example, in her poem “Because I could not stop for Death,” Dickinson writes “Because I could not stop for Death / He kindly stopped for me- / The Carriage held but just Ourselves- / And Immortality.” (Lines 1-4) In this passage, Dickinson uses two forms of figurative language; personification and irony. She ironically portrays Death as a gentleman by giving him human characteristics and allowing him to “stop” his carriage for both her and Immortality. In addition, in her poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense,” she writes “Much Madness is divinest Sense- / Much Sense-the starkest Madness-” (Lines 1&3) Dickinson uses a paradox in this passage describing madness as making good sense. She does this because sanity is defined by society, and those who disagree with the majority, are considered mad. Furthermore, in her poem, “A narrow Fellow in the Grass,” Dickinson writes “The Grass divides as with a Comb-” (Line 5) By using similes such as this, Dickinson creates a deeper meaning of everyday experiences and allows readers to live the...

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...ore, in the poem, “Because I could not stop for Death,” Dickinson writes “For only Gossamer, my Gown- / My Tippet-only Tulle-” (Lines 15-16) In this passage, the diction is used to portray a double meaning. The word “Gossamer” is used to describe the sheer fabric of the speaker’s gown and to describe the gown of spider webs that the speaker will wear in death. Each word in every individual line of Dickinson’s poetry serves a purpose and contributes to the brilliance of the work itself.

The structure of Dickinson’s poetry, her use of diction, imagery and figurative language make her poetry some of the greatest American literature of all time. She allows the reader to live life more fully, more deeply, more richly, and with greater awareness. Although Dickinson was never known as a great poet during her lifetime, her poetry will live on for generations to come.