The Divinity of Nonconformists Crazy, lunatic, mad.... these are words that have become part of society's everyday vocabulary. Though they are psychological in nature, they are often applied to people and objects that may not fit into the every day norm. In Emily Dickinson's "Much Madness is divinest Sense," Dickinson criticizes society's inability to accept non-conformist and expresses the belief that it is the majority who should be labeled as, "mad." In the lyrical poem "Much Madness is divinest Sense," Dickinson concentrates on society's judgmental views of non-conformists. Dickinson utilizes iambic tetrameter throughout the entire poem. There is, however, one exception; she uses two anapests in line 4: " 'Tis the Majority." By changing the rhythm in this line, Dickinson emphasizes that it is the majority who is truly mad, and not the minority who have been wrongly labeled so. Dickinson's quick switch from iambic tetrameter to anapestic also emphasizes the subject matter nonconformity because it interrupts the flow of the poem. She also coheres to the subject of nonconformity in the rhyme scheme. Although it appears to be written in free verse, "Much Madness is divinest Sense" does contain a small element of rhyme. The poem has an A B A C D E A D rhyme. For instance, the words "Sense," "Madness," and "dangerous" all rhyme, as well as the words "sane" and "Chain" (1,3,7,6,8). This unique rhyme scheme, once again, adheres to the subject matter of non-conformity. It is jagged and different like the individuals that society views as "mad." In "Much Madness is divinest Sense," Dickinson distinguishes between madness and sanity: the beliefs of the majority are sane, whereas ... ... middle of paper ... ...and rhyme scheme together with the subject matter. Dickinson's ideals in this poem are very valuable because she forces the reader to compare his thinking with that of society's. She makes one self-evaluate if they are judgmental towards unique individuals and if they themselves are losing their uniqueness by conforming to society which is embracing true madness. It is reason, that I feel "Much Madness is divinest Sense" has incredible worth and literary merit. In just eight lines Dickinson not only changes one's perception, but forces a kind of self-evaluation. Not only this, but Dickinson illustrates poetic skill in the unity of the poem. She makes her poem unique and "mad," so to speak, to reiterate her subject matter. Because Dickinson accomplishes so much in only eight lines, it cannot be argued that the poem has literary merit.
Dickinson has strong imagery, distinct structure, and a point of view that presents the concern related to darkness. Starting with “we,” Dickinson allows the reader to share the same feeling of nervousness as the author by entering into the unknown that the darkness brings together. Darkness is something one must alter
...portant, I believe that the most important in a poem must be its content - the message or feeling of what the poet wants to share - and not how. An example of the opposite can be seen in Carroll's "Jabberwocky", and that cannot be labelled as great poetry, can it?
Dickinson refers to “the Majority” as society, this Majority does not take women’s literature seriously. The vast majority of good literature is composed by men and it is extremely rare for a woman to create a masterpiece. Dickinson’s highly unusually writing style was her self-expression at its finest. Her use of capitalization and hyphens was deemed as unnecessary by many, but to her it was completely necessary to express her emphasis. Unfortunately, she was unable to obtain recognition during her lifetime. When her poetry was first published many changes were made so that it would meet the current standards. Little did anyone know that the true strength of her poetry lied within her unique style. Only when her work was published in it’s original form did Dickinson start to receive recognition as a pioneer. Dickinson writes” Assent – and you are sane- Demur – your straightway dangerous – And handled with a Chain –" (Lines 5-7) If one was to conform to standards then they would be considered normal. However, if one strayed away from norms they would be deemed outcasts. “Much Madness is divinest Sense” (line 1) meant that madness was true free thinking and
...Dickinson has for the most part conquered her fears. As the second poem gave us the unsettling idea that the author of the poem we were reading was afraid to compose poetry, this poem shows us her coming to terms with that. Her list of creatures blessed with wonders they had not dared to hope for extends quite naturally to include her. She has come to her “Heaven” through poetry—“unexpected”, but eventually with confidence brought about by the trials dealt with throughout the fascicle. The poems are very closely linked, each one showing us some new aspect of Dickinson’s personality that leads toward her confidence. Finally, Dickinson has found her voice and in this final poem proclaims that she has found a peace to which she had not dared aspire at the beginning. Now she has both nature and poetry within her grasp—this is “Heaven” and “Old Home” all at once.
...e use of figurative language and many literary techniques, Dickinson makes clear her theme, adding on to the intensity of the poem.
One of Emily Dickinson’s greatest skills is taking the familiar and making it unfamiliar. In this sense, she reshapes how her readers view her subjects and the meaning that they have in the world. She also has the ability to assign a word to abstractness, making her poems seemingly vague and unclear on the surface. Her poems are so carefully crafted that each word can be dissected and the reader is able to uncover intense meanings and images. Often focusing on more gothic themes, Dickinson shows an appreciation for the natural world in a handful of poems. Although Dickinson’s poem #1489 seems disoriented, it produces a parallelism of experience between the speaker and the audience that encompasses the abstractness and unexpectedness of an event.
In just eight lines Emily Dickinson manages to send such a powerful message about the sins on society. Maybe what we all perceive as the truth is but the history written by liars. Maybe the wisdom spoon-fed to us since birth are nothing more than exaggerations of the truth, contorted to give benefit to the one telling the story. Dickinson, isolated from her contemporary society, reveals the inner thoughts of a mind not perverted by the convictions of others. And through this, Dickinson, the “dangerous”, the recluse, the one who dared “demur” from society’s conventions, frees herself from the chains of timid feminism and immortalizes herself against the entropy of father time.
The first literary device that can be found throughout the poem is couplet, which is when two lines in a stanza rhyme successfully. For instance, lines 1-2 state, “At midnight, in the month of June / I stand beneath the mystic moon.” This is evidence that couplet is being used as both June and moon rhyme, which can suggest that these details are important, thus leading the reader to become aware of the speaker’s thoughts and actions. Another example of this device can be found in lines 16-17, “All Beauty sleeps!—and lo! where lies / (Her casement open to the skies).” These lines not only successfully rhyme, but they also describe a woman who
Dickinson begins the first line of her poem by writing in iambic tetrameter. In the second line she switches to iambic trimeter and proceeds to alternate between the two. This rhyme scheme proves to be particularly effective in complimenting the subject of the poem-- the ocean. When a reader looks at the poem it is easy to see the lines lengthening then shortening, almost in the same fashion that the tide of the ocean flows and ebbs.
C. Connotations:The poem is written in free verse with no rhyme or rhythm to be
Vendler, Helen. Dickinson: Selected Poems and Commentaries. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2010. 118-20. Google Books. Google. Web. 5 April. 2014. .
Looking at the poem overall, one of the most key components is its rhyme pattern and structure. The poem is comprised of six stanzas, all of which have three lines each and a rhyme pattern of ABA, excluding the last stanza which has four
To commence, structure is the first thing to descry while comparing Gray’s “Elegy” to other poems. Gray indites in heroic quatrains, four line stanzas with an iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is the designation given to a line of verse that consists of five iambs. Iambs being one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed. His poems are akin to the structures of Shakespeare’s sonnets, which are customarily divided into three quatrains followed by a couplet. Gray’s poem follows a rhythmic pattern ABAB; Shakespeare’s pattern is conventionally ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Sir Philip Sidney’s “Astrophil and Stella” follows the iambic structure of ABBA ABBA CDCD EE. John Donne indites in four line stanzas of iambic tetrameter rhyming ABBA CDDC. A quatrain in iambic tetrameter, rhyming is found in the second and fourth lines and often in the first and third.
The poetic conventions used by this poet include two half-lines in each verse, separated by a caesura or pause. The half-lines are joined by the oral stressing of alliterative words in the half-lines, both consonants and vowels (Tharaud 34). “At least one of the two stressed words in the first half-line, and usually both of them, begin with the same sound as the first stressed word of the second half-line” (Donaldson 67). When a word was stressed in the first half-line, its alliterative counterpart was stressed in the following half-line; the words could either complement each other, like holy/heaven or sin/enemy, or they could contrast each other like happy/wretched or warm/winter.
Poetry is verse written to create a response of thought and feeling from the reader. It often uses rhythm and rhyme to help convey its meaning.