Great American Poet Emily Dickinson

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Poetry is defined as literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm whether collectively or as a genre of literature. I chose to do all three poems by the one of our four great American poets, Emily Dickinson. The poems I have chosen to are, “Because I could not stop for death”, “Success is counted sweetest”, and “Triumph may be of several kinds”. The theme of each individual poem and its true interpreted meaning will be the focus of this paper.
“Because I could not stop for death” was one of Dickinson’s masterpieces and just as any other masterpiece there are many different interpretations. In the first stanza it say “Because I could not stop for death he kindly stopped for me” hinting here that death is a kind being. In the last words of the first stanza Dickinson made a mention to the carriage holding only her, death, and immortality. No human has ever reportedly been immortal, humans use this term to referencing to eternal fame and glory, just like in Odysee when Achilles was charmed into going to war for its promises of eternal glory long after his death. In an article written by Abbott Collamer it goes on to reinforce this point by stating that humans take the word “Immortality” at face value (Collamer1). The reference to immortality could also be a hint at the literary icon Dickinson knew she would become after her death, in a letter she wrote to a man named higginson she would go on to say,
“That is a Flood Subject, I was told the bank was the safest place for a Finless mind. I explore but since my mute confederate, yet the infinite beauty-of which you speak comes too near to seek” (Greenburg1).
Stating that her literary immortality is t...

... middle of paper ...

...is what I believe the theme of this play to be. Emily Dickinson was a great american poet from the imagery, personification, word play, and many other literary elements she showed in all three of this poems.

Works Cited

Bernard, Frank. "BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH." Literature Resources from Gale. Gale, 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
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Collamer, Abbott. "Because I Could Not Stop For Death." Literature Resources from Gale. Gale, 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
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Constantakis, Sara. "Success Is Counted Sweetest." Poetry for Students. Presenting Analysis, Context and Criticism on Commonly Studied Poetry. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2010. 229. Web.
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Roberts, Edgar V., and Robert Zweig. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, Compact Edition. N.p.: Pearson Education2012, 2012. Print.

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