People in all parts of the world honor the day of the Sabbath. However, they accomplish this in a countless number of ways. Some choose to attend church every Sunday and focus that day completely to God. Others prefer to respect the Sabbath in a more untraditional way. Several groups believe that one should perform a very small amount of work or even none at all. Some suppose that the amount of work done on this day has no effect on their long term relationship with God. Emily Dickinson takes a different approach. Instead of attending a big church with a clergyman who preaches too long, she creates her own church involving only nature, God and herself. In “Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church”, Emily Dickinson uses diction and metaphors …show more content…
to explain why the Sabbath does not need to honored in a particular way. Within “Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church”, Dickinson uses strong diction which complements the entire poem by providing an exceptional sense of emotion from the speaker. The speaker in this poem describes the different ways in which most of her society honor the Sabbath versus how she honors it. A difference between the speaker and the traditional honoring of the Sabbath is “With a Bobolink for a Chorister – / And an Orchard, for a Dome –”. The speaker explains that she creates her own church within God’s own creation. She does not need to attend the big, traditional church when she feels surrounded by God’s presence within her own backyard. The speaker compares the Bobolink, a small bird known for its songs, and the chorister along with comparing her orchard to the dome of the church. This also reveals the speaker's simplistic view of religion. Being surrounded by God’s creation and being in His presence are all that matter to her. Emily Dickinson adds another layer of depth into this poem by using comparison. Equally important to Dickinson’s use of diction, are the metaphors she uses in “Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church”.
Metaphors are often used in order to further introduce and explain an idea. The speaker compares “And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church, / Our little Sexton – sings” to help the reader comprehend that she feels as if she is in church when in fact she can be with God in her own home. By comparing the church bells to her own sexton, which refers back to the Bobolink, the speaker explains that the lavish and ornate decorative items within a church are merely physical, and that true relationship with God comes from a relationship, not by attending church only because one believes that is the correct way to honor the Sabbath. Emily Dickinson also compares the clothing in which the speaker and the regular church attendance wears. The different dress between the church and the speaker is described as “Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice – / I, just wear my Wings”. A surplice is a long, white gown worn by church clergyman and the chorister. The church believes this outfit demonstrates respect towards God. The speaker knows that clothing does not matter to God or towards one relationship with him. This is why she only wears her wings. The wings in the poem seem to represent angel wings which would imply the closeness the speaker holds with God. The metaphors in this poem help Dickinson to further extend her point of different ways to honor the
Sabbath. Throughout “Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church”, Emily Dickinson utilizes diction and metaphors to enhance her idea that the Sabbath can be honored multiple ways. This poem provides a literary claim between two different views on how to honor the Sabbath. The speaker takes a simple view of the Sabbath; she realizes that only a true relationship with God matters. Christians should not worry if they are correctly honoring the Sabbath; there is not just one right way. As long as one feels to be in God’s presence Dickinson says that is how they should choose to recognize the Holy Day.
Upon accepting a position to work for the New York Transit Authority, Mary Myers was forthright in informing her supervisor(s) know that she was unable to work any sundown Fridays to sundown Saturdays. (Feazell, 2003) As it relates to keeping “the Sabbath”, sundown Friday to sundown Saturday adherence to set aside this time period for rest and worship. (Feazell, 2003) Consequently, after Ms. Myer begin working for Transit Authority, her scheduled hours were involuntary changed, and she was then required to work on the Sabbath. (Feazell, 2003)
Annie Dillard portrays her thoughts differently in her passage, incorporating a poetic sense that is carried through out the entire passage. Dillard describes the birds she is viewing as “transparent” and that they seem to be “whirling like smoke”. Already one could identify that Dillard’s passage has more of poetic feel over a scientific feel. This poetic feeling carries through the entire passage, displaying Dillard’s total awe of these birds. She also incorporates word choices such as “unravel” and that he birds seem to be “lengthening in curves” like a “loosened skein”. Dillard’s word choice implies that he is incorporating a theme of sewing. As she describes these birds she seems to be in awe and by using a comparison of sewing she is reaching deeper inside herself to create her emotions at the time.
Exposing the Hypocrisy of Religion in Emily Dickinson’s Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church
Dickinson and Frost believe that the individual is in charge of making their own choices. Dickinson demonstrates the ability to make choices without the influence of society in “Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church” with the use of imagery and personification. Dickinson paints an overall picture in comparison of a church to an orchard. This picture is significant because most individuals within today’s modern society think that if they follow a strict plan that they will be granted into heaven. Dickinson also paints a
American writers and poets of the 19th century created literature to criticize and detail the imperfections of society. Emily Dickinson, who retired from contact with the outside world by the age of twenty-three in favor of a life of isolation, can arguably be considered such a poet. Her untitled poem "Faith" can be interpreted as criticism of the masculine-dominated society of her time and supports themes in Henry James's work Daisy Miller: A Study, which also criticizes societal expectations and practices.
The title of the poem is an indication that the reader should prepare himself or herself for some sort of spiritual experience. Whittier uses the word "worship" to title his poem because by the end of the poem the reader will learn that there is much more to the natural world than water, land, and sky. The poem starts with the birth or creation of nature. Whittier explains to his readers that the natural world has existed since God created it. He compares the creation of nature to music. This stanza is very appealing to the senses because nature is musical. The insects, winds, and birds are all a part of this "song" that "has never died away". The poet reminds readers of this very important idea because we as humans have a tendency to forget the value and importance of nature. The second stanza takes readers beyond the initial creation and introduces readers to the many purposes that nature serves. Whittier explains that "prayer is made and praise is given." Personification is an important tool used in this poem. Obviously nature cannot really pray or give praise, but the various functions of nature in this world give the illusion that it does pay homage to a higher being. For instance the lines in the second stanza, "The ocean looketh up to heaven, /And mirrors every star" says that the ocean is a mirror for heaven. If we look into the deep sea, we are in essence looking into a reflected image of heaven. Other instances when Whittier uses personification in this way are the first and second lines in the third stanza, "Its waves are kneeling on the strand/As kneels the human knee". Whittier tells his readers that just as man bends his knee to show respect to God so the ocean waves bend when they reach the shore as a sign of respect.
In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” she uses the structure of her poem and rhetoric as concrete representation of her abstract beliefs about death to comfort and encourage readers into accepting Death when He comes. The underlying theme that can be extracted from this poem is that death is just a new beginning. Dickinson deftly reassures her readers of this with innovative organization and management, life-like rhyme and rhythm, subtle but meaningful use of symbolism, and ironic metaphors.
The poetic work penned by Emily Dickinson is often viewed cryptically mainly due to the aspects of less punctuation and presence of destructive language that aligns imagery. For the purpose of analysis, the poem selected is Dickinson’s 754, ‘My Life has Stood – A Loaded Gun’ which was published in 1999. The poem has eluded critics and the interpretation of this work was carried out in a number of ways including frontier romanticism and a spirituality expression. On the other hand, the poem is underpinned with an extensive metaphor, in the light of which the life of the speaker becomes a loaded gun. The beginning of the poem depicts a typical American scene with the existence of a gun, a hunter, and a trip to the woods for hunting. The poem
One of the most prevalent of the literary tools used in this poem is the simile. Repeatedly throughout the poem Bishop uses the simile to give the reader a clearer picture of the situation at hand. The simile is an ideal literary tool to use when the author is trying to convey a sensory description of an object or idea. When describing the fish?s physical appearance in lines 9-15 she compares the fish?s skin to ?ancient wallpaper?; this immediately gives the reader an impression of the age and outward appearance of the fish. Later in the poem when in lines 61-62 she describes the pieces of broken fishing line hanging from the fish?s mouth as ?medals with their ribbons / frayed and wavering? she is using a simile to give the impression of pride and honor. This comes at a point when ...
In the poem “If you were Coming in the Fall” by Emily Dickinson, the author writes of a woman who is madly in love with a man. In the five stanza poem, Dickinson explains how the woman would put tremendous amounts of time to waste in the event of meeting this man. She starts by threatening to throw seasons, years, and even centuries away. Yet the man never comes to her. The theme of this poem is people cannot be trusted with possessions as great as time. The author helped me find the theme with her amazing form of attitude and gave me the ability to create a summary to help myself.
The Poet Emily Dickinson is a master of compression. She gracefully packages deep truths in just a handful of words. This is demonstrated in the poem, “We grow accustomed to the dark”. The last line which states, “and life steps almost straight”, is particular captivating because of the philosophical weight it and all simple, elegant truths carry. The multiple facets of the human condition, namely growth, conflict, and aspiration, can be used to ascertain the multiple layers of meaning contained in Emily Dickinson’s phrase “Life Steps almost Straight” (Line 20)
“Some keep the Sabbath going to Church” by Emily Dickinson is a poem expressing, how she felt about where and how we fellowship with God. Emily felt as if real worship occurred at home, or within oneself. In this poem, she expressed her very own church through nature. The message that Emily was trying to portray with this poem is that God is within our hearts, so we should not contain our praise and worship in a building, but wherever we see fit to worship God. She used nature and other different metaphors to take the place of the church, she described a Bobolink for a chorister and an orchard for a dome, God preaches a noted clergyman, and instead of keeping the Sabbath in surplice, she wears her wings.
Emily Dickinson was an unrecognized poet her whole life. Her close family members recognized her talent, and her needs to write poetry, but the literary establishment of her time would not recognize her skill. Even though she was unrecognized, she was still quietly battling the established views through her poetry. Her literary struggle was exposed after her death since, while living, only five of her poems were published.
...er readers. Dickinson’s use of literary devices and her creativity enables her to imaginatively describe the beauty and grace from a simple and familiar observation. It is through her use of tone, imagery, and sound that she exploits a keen sense of respect for at the very least the little bird, if not also nature itself. Dickinson recreates and expresses the magnificence and smoothness of the bird soaring across the sky. She uses tone to create the mood to emphasize the theme. She uses sound and imagery to not only tell the reader about the awesome flight of the bird, but to help the reader experience and connect to the little bird and nature in hope that they too will learn to respect nature.
Throughout Emily Dickinson’s works, an audience can easily see her feministic views as well as her thoughts about democracy that also relate to other well-known authors. Her analytic and important contributions to poetry have brought a lot of controversy in the pass but mainly influences to 20th century American history. Dickinson has logical and at the same time genius ideas. Her well known themes are related to death, nature, success, grief, faith and religion, and the idea of freedom through her poetry. Emily Dickinson is known for the intensity in her works and focused brilliantly on each subject she wrote about.