Love Theme’s in Emily Dickinson’s Poetry
In evaluating Emily Dickinson’s biography and poems, I surmised that excluding the love of father, brother, and her deceased nephew, Emily’s knowledge of romantic love, by first-hand experience, is questionable. The pure-of-mind reader may believe that what familiarity she had about love matters might have been based mainly on her extensive reading of literature. Emily was an avid reader and was particularly fond of, among others, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Charles Dickens. She especially doted on the Bronte sisters, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot (182-183).
According to “The Norton Anthology’s” biographical sketch on Emily, she had never married or had factually known a sexual partner. The Biography relates that some believed that she might have been the lover of any one of the men she had close relations with. Through her poetry and letter writing, her public can only speculate about her having had affairs with married men, and with Susan Gilbert, her childhood female friend, who later became her sister-in-law (182-184).
One of Emily’s poems that make the some readers believe that she did in fact not pass on without experiencing carnal knowledge is:
Wild Nights! Wild Nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild Nights should be
our luxury!
Futile the winds
To a heart in port, –
Done with the compass,
Done with the chart!
Rowing in Eden!
Ah! the sea!
Might I but moor
To-night in Thee!
In the majority of her poetry, Emily portrays many more poems’ whose themes deal with death, immortality and nature, than with romantic love. Love, however is present throughout a good number of her poem’s, though subtle at times. The latter of course, is left up to the imagination of the reader.
In her poetry, Emily writes with ardor; and though she never mentions a lover by name, it is believe that the object of her affections was a reverend from Philadelphia named Charles Wadsworth. The object of her love poems could have also been any of the other male acquaintances mentioned in the biography. She could have, also been fantasizing.
Emily’s love themes are ardent, with metaphors that show the many emotions associated with love and even carnal knowledge. Her poems exemplify the very loving and passionate person she really was, though she was a recluse with a selected society of friends (192). This similes were established throughout most of her poems; whether they theme was love, death, nature or immortality.
Some of her love poems were intense and give a picture of a volatile and explosive love. Emily love poem’s had very extraordinary settings (202 & 206). Emily writes of controlled love, and love that could not be demonstrated and had to be suppressed. Her feelings and desires at being more than a clandestine lover are demonstrated in at least two of her poem’s where she mentions either being a wife or not having the title. She frequently ended her love poems in such a way that was not romantic, it seem that one of the parties involved always got hurt at the end (754 & 1072).
Not with a club the heart is broken,
nor with a stone;
A whip so small you could not see it,
I’ve known
Emily’s poetry venerates males, (customary of women in that Victorian era), by placing them in an exalted position. To her, men were Lords, Kings, Masters, Fathers and Lovers. Women solely existed to serve, please and complement men. This is illustrated in poem (205).
She rose to his requirement — dropt
the playthings of her life
to take the honorable work
of women and wife
Some of Emily’s poem’s that tended to make the reader belief that there existed one or more clandestine relationships in her life are poems such as “Title divine is mine” and “Tell all the truth and tell it slant” (211&212)
For a person who supposedly had no know lover, Emily wrote beautiful love themes that only an experience person, in my opinion, could have written. This observation is based on the many poems’ that portray volatile love affairs, and emotional love and tenderness. She was truly a great writer.
The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Walt Whitman – Emily Dickinson.
5th Ed. W.W. Norton & Co. NY, 1998.
Другие работы по теме:
Things Are Not What They Seem Essay
, Research Paper Things Are Not Always What They Seem William Faulkner s short story A Rose for Emily centers around Miss Emily and what the townspeople think of Miss Emily. One of the themes for A Rose for Emily is appearance versus reality. This theme of appearance versus reality can be seen through what the townspeople think of Miss Emily and by the actions taken by Miss Emily.
Dickinson 4 Essay Research Paper Emily DickinsonEmily
Dickinson 4 Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson is an important poet principally because of the distinctiveness of her writing. Though only 7 out of her 1,200 poems were published critics still classify her as one of the principle poets of her time. In Dickinson’s life the most important things to her were love, religion, individuality and nature.
A Rose For Emily 2
A Rose For Emily – Theme Of Love Essay, Research Paper Love as defined by Webster?s is ?a strong and deep feeling of attachment, great affection; passionate attraction and ardent affection, especially for one of the opposite sex?(183). My definition of love is unconditional acceptance, devoutness, and trust, between two consenting individuals.
Poetry As A Way Out Essay Research
Paper People who write poetry do so for various reasons. They write to express such things as anger, fear, happiness, and the unknown. Whether it is to have a hobby, do something for leisure time, or to express one?s feelings, everyone has their own motive.
Emily DickinsonS I Felt A Funeral In
My Brain? Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson?s poem entitled ?I felt a Funeral, in my Brain? is directed towards a death in the speaker?s life. This death could have been a romantic love that had left him or her behind. It seems that they go through a type of struggle that is sort of bound to them.
Emily Essay Research Paper Emily and I
Emily Essay, Research Paper Emily and I were in love. She lived in North Carolina and I lived in Ohio. It wasn’t an easy relationship. We communicated often. We met in August. She was diagnosed with cancer in her knee in December. It started in her knee, but had spread too much through out her body. She was dying.
Emily Dicksinson Essay Research Paper A Unique
Emily Dicksinson Essay, Research Paper A Unique Personification – Emily Dickinson, Poem #712 For generations children have been taught to see Death as the Grim Reaper. A figure clothed in dark robes holding a gleaming scythe in one hand and beckoning with the alabaster bone of another, Death has become something to be universally feared.
New Historicism Criticism Of Poem 1732 By
Emily Dickinson Essay, Research Paper Literature can be used to explain a period of time, and give insights as to how the general public felt, conveying true emotions and ideals instead of just textbook descriptions. Poem 1732 by Emily Dickinson is an excellent example of such. Dickinson was a female writer who lived in America and wrote during the mid to late 1800s, and her poem reflects the impact that both the Civil War and the War of 1812 had on people living through that era.
Emily Jane Bronte Essay Research Paper Emily
Emily Jane Bronte Essay, Research Paper Emily Jane Bronte Emily Jane Bronte remains a mystery. Very little is known about her. There is little information, and much of what we have is contradictory. She is the author
Theme On Emily Dickinson Essay Research Paper
Anthony J. Buchanan English 203 1:00 MWF, Theme #3 Oct. 25, 2000 Poems of Emily Dickinson Thesis of my paper that I am trying to prove to the reader is that Emily Dickinson is a brilliant extraordinary writer. She talks about mortality and death within her life and on paper in her poem works.
The Many Facets Of Love Essay Research
Paper Love is a many faceted thing. It can be the best feeling in the world, or the bane of your existence. This is one of the central themes in A Rose for Emily , Faulkner s tale of twisted love. But what kind of love is it that pervades the entire text? Is it the love of man and woman, the love out of respect for another, or the love of a tradition for years? A Rose for Emily embraces all the facets of love, through different people s eyes.
On 1705
("Volcanoes Be In Sicily") Essay, Research Paper Sandra Gilbert Dickinson felt that although "Volcanoes be in Sicily…I may contemplate / Vesuvius at Home." For as a mistress of the mysteries
Emily Dickenson Essay Research Paper Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickenson Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts. She had a younger sister named Lavina and an older brother named Austin. Her mother Emily Norcross Dickinson, was largely dependent on her family and was seen by Emily as a poor mother. Her father was lawyer, Congressman, and the Treasurer for Amherst College.
Death Essay Research Paper Many poems are
Death Essay, Research Paper Many poems are written about death. The two poets William Cullen Bryant and Emily Dickinson were very influential trancendental writers. Bryant writing Thanatopsis
Motherhood Essay Research Paper In today s
Motherhood Essay, Research Paper In today s age the rate of single motherhood is growing rapidly. The job of being a single mother is not only difficult but exhausting. Single mothers have to work extra hard to make money to pay the bills, while trying to care for there children, and also fitting time in for themselves.
Death To Emily Dickinson Essay Research Paper
DeathEmily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. For her entire life she lived there, in her father’s home. Though her world was quite simple, it was also complex in its beauties and terrors. She found irony and ambiguity lurking in the simplest and commonest experiences. The material in her poetry ranged from what she experienced in and around her father’s home.
Emily Dickinson Essay Research Paper Emily Dickinsons
Emily Dickinson Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson?s Views on Death Emily Dickinson?s views on death, as conveyed through her poetry, changed from poem to poem depending on her mood. Her writings also span over many years and one can see a progression in her thoughts on the subject of death as she matures as a person.
American Sign Language Essay Research Paper Emily
American Sign Language Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson and Uncle Walt Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are two of literature’s greatest innovators, they each changed the face of American literature. they are also considered one of literature’s greatest pair of opposites. Dickinson is a timid wreck loose.
Emily Dickinson 2 Essay Research Paper Emily
Emily Dickinson 2 Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson was ahead of her time in the way she wrote her poems. The poems she wrote had much more intelligence and background that the common person could comprehend and understand. People of all ages and critics loved her writings and their meanings, but disliked her original, bold style.
Emily Dickenson Essay Research Paper Emily DickensonEmily
Emily Dickenson Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickenson Emily Dickinson’s unusual character and style has made her become one of the world’s most famous poets. In her poems, she expresses her feelings about religion, nature, death and love. Her poems tell a great deal about her lifestyle, which was very secluded and withdrawn from society.
Emily Dickinson Essay Research Paper Upon a
Emily Dickinson Essay, Research Paper Upon a first reading of Emily Dickinson’s poem’s I found them very difficult to understand due to her unique style of writing. Once I was able to comprehend the
The Life Of Emily Dickinson Essay Research
Paper The Life of Emily Dickinson Although she lived a seemingly secluded life, Emily Dickinson’s many encounters with death influenced many of her poems and letters. Perhaps one of
Historical Analysis Of One Of Emily Dickinson
’s Works Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson was a reclusive person, with an emotional, passionate, intense life filled with her genius for writing poetry. Although criticized for her unconventional style of writing, including her rough rhythm and imperfect grammar and rhymes, she continued to write in her own unique way.
Emily Dickinson Analysis Of Works Essay Research
Paper Literary Criticisms of Emily Dickinson’s PoetryThroughout Emily Dickinson’s poetry there are three main themes that she addresses: death, love, and nature; as well as the impact of “the word”. When discussing these themes she followed her lifestyle and broke away from traditional forms of writing and wrote with an intense energy and complexity never seen before and rarely seen today.
Emily Dickinson 4 Essay Research Paper
“Emily Dickinson” Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet of the nineteenth century. She was one of the greatest masters of the short lyric poem. Not much is known about her life, but what is known is unusual and interesting.
Poetic Analysis Of There
’s Been A Death In The Houseby Emily Dickenson Essay, Research Paper There s been a death in the opposite house , by Emily Dickinson. On the mechanical side, it is of iambic triameter to pentameter, including feminines. There is no significant assonance, consonance, or alliteration.
Poem Analysis Essay Research Paper In Emily
Poem Analysis Essay, Research Paper In Emily Dickinson’s poem “Hope is the Thing With Feathers” she is the speaker And as the poem states she is a “hopeless” person. She talks of the virtues of hope, and
Is Emily Dickinson On Drugs Essay Research
Paper 4/26/98Is Emily Dickinson on Drugs? Emily Dickinson’s poems often make me ponder her mental stability. Sometimes I wonder if she was psychotic or on some kind of mind-altering drugs. In Dickinson’s poems “I felt a funeral in my brain,” “My life closed twice before its close,” and “Because I could not stop for Death,” we shall see whether or not Mr.
Emily Dickinson Essay Research Paper Emily DickinsonMany
Emily Dickinson Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson Many poets often have themes or topics for which most of their poetry falls under. One of the topics that frequent the writhing of Emily Dickinson is death. This is the case with I Felt a Funeral in my Brain, and I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died.
The Life And Works Of Emily Dickinson
Essay, Research Paper The Life and Works of Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson was a very important person in the world of writing. She has much to do with the way that Americans write and the way that millions of others write today. Emily Dickinson lived a hard life; it is believed that she suffered from various psychological illnesses.
Emily Dickinson
’s Reflection Of God Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson had a view of God and His power that was very strange for a person of her time. Dickinson questioned God, His power, and the people in the society around her. She did not believe in going to church because she felt as though she couldn’t find any answers there.
It Was Not Death For I Stood
Up Essay, Research Paper In the poem by Emily Dickinson “It Was Not Death, for I Stood Up,” the main character has just lost a loved one and feels such devastation that cannot be put into words, but could only be described as “not” something. She feels such loss at her loved one’s burial, that his “burial reminded [her] of [hers]“.
An Aanalysis Of Emily Dickinson
’s What Soft Cherubic Creatures Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson’s “What Soft- Cherubic Creatures-” Emily Dickinson’s poem “What Soft- Cherubic Creatures-” is a poem that deals with the universal concept of hypocrisy; that is to say, one tends to show one face to the world which is merely a fa ade to hide the inner passions one has towards the outer world.