Free Essays: Impact of the Word on Dickinson

Impact of the Word on Dickinson

In Donald E. Thackrey’s essay "The Communication of the Word," he talks about how "the power of the individual word, in particular, seems to have inspired her with nothing less than reverence" (51). Dickinson approached her poetry inductively, that is, she combined words to arrive at whatever conclusion the patterns of the words suggested, rather than starting out with a specific theme or message. Instead of purposefully working toward a final philosophical point, Dickinson preferred to use series of "staccato" inspirations (51). Dickinson frequently used words with weight in her work, and as a result her works usually cannot be grasped fully in one reading without dissecting each word individually. Often Dickinson would compile large, alternative word lists for a poetry before she would come to a decision on which word was "just right" for the impact she wished to achieve (52). For example, this poem displays Dickinson’s use of alternative, thesaurus-like lists:

Had but the tale a thrilling, typic,

hearty, bonnie, breathless, spacious,

tropic, warbling, ardent, friendly,

magic, pungent, winning, mellow

teller

All the boys would come—

Orpheus’s sermon captivated,

It did not condemn.

Eventually, Dickinson came to rest on the word "warbling," but one can see the meticulous care that she put into the decision on which word to use.

Another poem of Dickinson’s that shows her compositional method is "Shall I Take Thee?" the Poet Said." In this poem, Dickinson discusses from where the power of the world comes.

"Shall I take thee?" the poet said

To the propounded word.

"Be stationed with the candidates

Till I have further tried."

The poet probed philology

And when about to ring

For the suspended candidate,

There came unsummoned in

That portion of the vision

The word applied to fill.

Not unto nomination

The cherubim reveal.

In the preceding poem, one can see the artistic style come through her composition. The best representation of that particular idea comes from the author Donald Thackrey when he says:

It is significant that the revealed word comes "unsummoned" in a flash of intuition….and yet the implication of the poem is that the revealing of the word must be preceded by the preparatory, conscious, rational effort of probing philology…She [Dickinson] herself was well aware that inspiration, while all-sufficient when present, seldom came even to a great poet.