What Is Fame? A Bee

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Only a very few pieces of an American poet Emily Dickinson were published during her lifetime. The majority, more than seventeen hundred of them, became available to public after her death. Dickinson’s poems are short, unique, and lack a title. Common topics are death, immortality, and the role of a woman. Dickinson was not famous during her life, and she wanted her books to be burnt after she died. However, they were published, and she is now one of the most renowned American poets. The poem “Fame is a bee” (1763) expresses her view of fame, but it is not clear whether she really had no interest in being famous, or whether it was her desire, the path to immortality.
In the first line Dickinson uses a metaphor when she states that “Fame is a bee”, and she continues by explaining why it is true. Fame possesses everything that bee does – “song”, “sting”, and “wing”. “It has a song” (line 2) can be interpreted as that fame is very attractive. People wish to be famous because it opens a door to many desirable items and great experiences. Bee’s “song” is honey it produces. Honey is swe...

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