Emily Dickinson Fear

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Recommended: Themes in Emily Dickinson's poetry

Why Be Afraid?

“What am I afraid of?” Everyone has asked themselves this or something similar to this at some point in their life. It then seems suiting that Emily Dickinson wrote a poem about this, but her responses differ from many. In this poem, she takes a casual and personal tone by talking to the reader, helping to relate this poem to anyone. In the first stanza, she says “Afraid! Of whom am I afraid?” (1), almost as if what follows will be an explanation of what she fears the most. Instead, she lists what she does not fear. Her points mainly focus on Death, Life, and Resurrection which are points that people fear in different circumstances. Her tone implies to the reader that she sees no reason to fear any of these things.

“Not …show more content…

She talks of resurrection and the Final Judgement. She says, “Is the East afraid to trust the Morn with her fastidious forehead?” (9-11). Now, everyone knows that the sun rises in the east. What she is talking about though is Final Judgement. So, the East is symbolic of her because she refers to it as a “her”, implying that it is the judgement of herself that is taking place, not the judgement of another. The Morn is of course the sun, but the sun is also symbolic of God. The sun sheds light on the earth, bringing all the secrets she holds to light. It rises in the east, bringing to light all the things that happend during the night. She is saying in this poem, “If the earth is not afraid to show the contents that it holds to the sun, why should I be afraid or concerned about showing the contents of my mind and heart to my Maker?” The next phrase though says, “As soon impeach my Crown!” (12). The “Crown” can mean her head, but it can also mean a literal crown, the crown of glory. She said she would “impeach my Crown” meaning that not only would she leave it up to God to look through the contents of her head or life, she would also question or charge her own life according to His standards. She believes that she is deserving of any judgement He gives, whether it be good or

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