What Is The Mood Of The Poem I Ll Tell You How The Sun Rose

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The poem I chose to talk about is 'I'll tell you how the sun rose' by Emily Dickinson. Reading this poem literally, you will see it is about a typical sunrise and all of the activities that occurred throughout the day, however, this poem has a greater meaning then what is presented. There is a great deal of symbolism that is illustrated in this poem. The images described as the sunrise and the sunset are common symbols for birth and death. The poem in it's entirety feels like a journey through life. I feel that this contributes to the beauty of this poem as it helps condense a lifetime into one day. Ribbons could symbolize two things, innocence and vanity. This is fantastic as it allows the reader to interpret the object the way he or she …show more content…

A recurring image in this poem is the ribbon crossing the morning sky as the sun rises. This literal imagery also comes back when describing the hills untying their bonnets. This clearly demonstrates that the streaks of the sunrise become brighter and are filling the morning sky. This helps add to the poems beauty and paint a strong picture in the readers mind of the strong sun rays. The colour amethyst of the sunrise is also used again in the description of the sunset; however, it has taken a new and darker colour of purple. This shows that the mood gets darker as the poem …show more content…

A metaphor is featured in the line "I’ll tell you how the sun rose, A ribbon at a time" as the sun rays are regarded as ribbons. The lines "Which little yellow boys and girls, Were climbing all the while, Till when they reached the other side, A dominie in gray, Put gently up the evening bars, And led the flock away" are an extended metaphor of life and death. This is demonstrated by the children climbing over the stile and getting herded by the dominie. This metaphor is very powerful as it helps illustrate the cycle of life and how the children climb over the stile to enter the next chapter of their journey. The dominie is also a religious symbol that symbolizes the importance of religion when moving through chapters of your life. The line "The news like squirrels ran" is an example of a simile as it uses 'like' to compare the squirrels running in speed. This simile is a great addition to the poem as it helps add to the overall meter of the poem. An example of personification is present in the line "The steeples swam and the the hills untied their bonnet" as it adds human like characteristics to the steeples and the hills. This personification helps make the story more interesting and enjoyable to the reader rather then using normal, plain words. An allusion is present in the line "The steeples swam in amethyst" as a steeple is a religious reference. This allusion adds to the overall

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