In Walt Whitman’s Crossing the Brooklyn Ferry, the ocean tide is the first thing the author addresses in the poem. He uses the continuous movements of the waves to symbolize the continuity of the human generation, people traveling to and from Manhattan, and the changing in time. The speaker goes back and forth in time, when he presents himself in the future and then returns to the present. Through the progression of lines, the poem seems to grow darker, representing the setting of the sun in Manhattan. Usually, darkness represents evil in a story, but Whitman seems to accept it as percentage of humankind and not as a darkness that should be eliminated. Whitman’s imagery seems to be a cross between religious and spiritual, through the Crossing of the Brooklyn Ferry. One can see that Whitman takes numerous indirect jabs at religion. The theme of the poem is that all material things contribute to a much larger spiritual phenomenon. In When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d, lilacs are a clear symbolism of …show more content…
Dickinson describes death like it drives. She also speaks of grain gazing, as if it was a being that could see. Imagery is a powerful tool used by dickinson. In the beginning of the poem, one can recall the noises and poem movements she describes. Her most prominent imagery, Dickinson describes the final things she sees before she dies. I Am Nobody Who Are You, presents personification in the word “nobody.” She capitalizes N, every time she uses the word therefore it becomes a proper noun. Utilizing the long dash, like many of her other poems, Dickinson keeps her audience intrigued. There is a Pain- So Utter- also, quite clearly, contains dashes for emphasis all throughout the poem. Dickinson also uses caesura when she realizes the power of pain. She then personifies pain as a victim who is blindfolded and describes it as so overwhelming it controls the
He also made us experience the awe and misery of the mother by describing her “trembling steps” when she went to read. the letter, her “sickly white face and dull in the head”. In addition to her state after her son’s death, she was “presently drest in. black”, “her meals untouched”, “fitfully sleeping often waking” and “sleeping”. her “deep longing.to be with her dead son”. Dickinson uses imaginative and figurative language.
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).
We begin to understand the speaker’s uniqueness as we examine the structure of the poem. In Dickinson’s poem, the speaker is proud to be independent. The text says, “I’m Nobody.” This statement ends with a period as if to say, “I’m independent.” Then she says, “Who are you?” She’s having a conversation with another “Nobody”.
Both Whitman and Dickinson use imagery to describe the final resting place for death however, Whitman describes how the soul lives on and Dickinson illustrates that the soul dies with the body. In the fifth stanza Whitman describes his decaying body being placed beneath the ground after death: “I bequeath myself to the dirt, to grow from the grass I love”(10). Whitman uses imagery to describe to the reader how his flesh and bones will be placed below the ground and will become part of the grass he once adored. Whitman demonstrates his body will decay and as it
Maybe the image of lifting a box is a metaphor for someone lifting the pain in her head. Perhaps this is Dickinson's way of expressing her thought that death isn't real...
Whitman establishes a direct connection between the lyrical and the reader to get to each one of us. The power that the poem has and having Whitman writing it, rests on the ability of the author to separate himself amongst thousands, almost as a wonderful schizophrenia which allows you to view the world from certain points of view and understand it better than anyone.
Dickinson has put emotion into this poem; by using words that intrigue the emotions of the viewer’s such as a simple word like “death”. Personification was also used very well in this poem. Dickinson says “Because I could not stop for death/He kindly stopped for me” which perceives death as an animate object such as a
Dickinson 's poem uses poetic devices of personification to represent death, she represents death as if it were a living being. Dickinson 's capitalization of the word “DEATH”, causes us to see death as a name, in turn it becomes noun, a person, and a being, rather than what it truly is, which is the culminating even of human life. The most notable use of this, is seen in the very first few lines of the poem when Dickinson says “Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me”. In her poem Dickinson makes death her companion, as it is the person who is accompanying her to her grave. She states that death kindly stopped for her and she even goes as far as to give death the human ability to stop and pick her up. The occasion of death through Dickinson use of personification makes it seem like an interaction between two living beings and as a result the poem takes on a thoughtful and light hearted tone. The humanization of death makes the experience more acceptable and less strange, death takes on a known, familiar, recognizable form which in turn makes the experience more relatable. As the poem
...ritings. For example, in her work of “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, Dickinson used personification to resemble Death as a person. Also, in her poem of “I Heard a Fly Buzz– When I Died”, she uses “the Windows” (423) as eyes when the woman dies.
...e use of figurative language and many literary techniques, Dickinson makes clear her theme, adding on to the intensity of the poem.
However, despite this difference, Dickinson seduces and catches the reader off guard by speaking of death in an unconventional way. Emily Dickinson masters describing a traumatic human event in the most mundane terms, with the help of literary devices such as imagery and language. With her use of imagery, Emily Dickinson is able to govern how the reader feels and reflects on death. In her poem, "Because I could not stop for Death," the word "could" signifies that death has occurred as a past experience. Due to this poem being based on a past event, Dickinson is able to use imagery to relate death to a fresh memory of hers.
In “On the Beach at Night Alone,” Walt Whitman develops the idea that everyone has a connection with everything else, including nature. Whitman uses a variety of writing techniques to get his point across. First, the repetition and parallel structure that his poems contain reinforce the connection between everything in nature. The usage of “All” 11 times emphasizes the inclusion of everything in the universe. The sentence structure remains the same throughout the poem, without any drastic change; however, the length of the lines in the poem vary. In addition, Whitman’s’ extravagance with his words further illustrates his idea of the Over-Soul. For example, “A vast similitude interlocks all” (4) shows his verbose nature. Whitman does not do directly to the point, but gives every little detail. Most importantly, Whitman’s’ use of catalogues stands as the most recognizable Whitman characteristic that illustrates his beliefs. These long lists that he uses set the mood of the poem. “All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, suns, moons, planets,” (5) shows the idea that everything is connected in nature. Similarly, “All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations languages.” (10) furthermore emphasize Whitman’s belief in the Over-Soul.
The dominant themes that are more pervasive in Whitman’s poetry are democracy, life/death cycles, individualism, and nature. These themes play major roles in some of his more notable poems such as “Songs of Myself” or “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” He used democracy as a theme to bring society together, and unite everyone based on their general beliefs. He depicted life and death cycles that merge society together on a spiritual level. Despite his eagerness to unite society he also embraced individualism, and is also a persistent theme in most of his poetry.
an actual character in the poem. By her constantly calling death?his? or?he?s a?he? she denotes a specific person and gender. Dickinson also compares?Death?
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.”