Tuesday, 18 April: Emily Dickinson, introduction + 4 poems

Web-highlighter: Elena Trevino

Intro: These are final exam examples that showed representation of Dickinson and Whitman’s poetry and how it was identified.

Final 2004       

Despite the fact that there are some atypical Dickinson moves within this poem, a few things stand out, specifically stylistically and subject wise, as very traditional Dickinson. “Confrontation with death” is among the most common themes used by her as subjects for her poems. Lines like, “going to heaven” and “since the mighty autumn afternoon / I left them in the ground,” generate images of death that fit in along with this theme. Also, Dickinson tends to use something called “synesthesia” in her poetry. Synesthesia is the technique of interpreting one sense in the terms of another, and she does use this at one point within “Going to Heaven.” In the first stanza the line, “how dim it sounds,” can be found. The adjective “dim” is typically used to refer to the sense of sight, but here, in this poem, Dickinson uses it to refer to the sense of sound, instead. Finally, a third characteristic of this poem that is a usual convention of Dickinson is slant rhyme. Slant rhymes, or half rhymes, are like forced or “opportunistic” rhymes. Several examples of slant rhyme can be found in “Going to Heaven.” At the ends of the first and second stanzas, she ends with slant rhyme: “done/arm” and “crown/home,” and at the beginning of the third stanza, she has another set in “breath/earth.”

Spring 2002

            By reading through these two poems, the differences in the style of Whitman and Dickinson can be compared and contrasted quite easily. Whitman tends to typically be more lengthy and drawn out, writing in a free verse style that, at times, seems almost reminiscent of prose. Dickinson, on the other hand, is more concise with her poems, and though she tends to use slant rhyme schemes within them, she never quite approaches the free verse style. Dickinson’s poems also tend to revolve around death, nature, and the “intrusion of the infinite into everyday life,” but Whitman’s poetry, while sometimes centering upon the individual, seems to lean more towards seeking a sense of identity, equality and inclusion. While both authors are quite different, they both still write lyric poetry in a way that is engaging and lasting. Dickinson may be more appealing, easier to read, and more personal, but Whitman opens the mind to a deeper search for answers to problems that are not easily solved. To ignore one or the other is to miss out on a piece of American poetry and history. [JD] This  next poem is by Dickinson, and it is typical of her writing in that there are dashes that break the lines, and serve to keep them open.   The poem is short, but takes you on an infinite trip; it looks simple enough, but what you see is not what you get.  The “Brain” holds the sky, the sea, and is equivalent to the “weight of God.”  This firmly packed poem is typical of the intensity that Dickinson offers readers.  The lines are short, and this is representative of Dickinson control which enables her to produce huge moves or present thought provoking ideas  in small spaces.  The rebelliousness of Dickinson is apparent her as a human mind is set on a scale with God and holds its own.  She also presents matter of fact statements “The Brain is…” And then gives readers an open space as she states “if they do….”   All of these are typical of Dickinson.  The simplicity of the poem, although it is powerful and moving,  is not altogether an characteristic of Dickinson’s poetry.  Although there is a lot to think about here, the facts are pretty much laid out.  The mystery is not in her words as it is commonly in other poems.  There is a simplicity that is uncharacteristically married with clarity here.  Readers can usually expect to find simplicity in her writing, but can also expect that her words can lead them down various paths of meaning. [LL]

Spring 2001

Poem #585 is definitely Emily Dickinson. It has shorter lines and is written in quatrains or 4-line stanzas. The end of the poem uses her trademark dashes and every line begins with a capitalized word. Furthermore, this poem is a riddle poem, which is one of her sub-genres. She uses nature as a symbol of spirit in this poem. Although she is describing a train in this poem, she compares the trains characteristics to a horse. Also, the train starts of wild and free like the spirit and then becomes "docile and omnipotent" once it is settled in it’s holding area. The idea of the train becoming omnipotent is another characteristic of Dickinson—her intrusion of the infinite into everyday life. This poem is also characteristic of Dickinson because she is observing something, but she is not part of what she is looking at. This exemplifies the idea of Dickinson being secluded, which comes from a fascination with her life.

Albeit this poem is characteristic of Dickinson’s style and easy to identify as one of her poems, it does contain elements that are not traditionally Dickinson. This poem does not have a rhyme scheme, which Dickinson usually uses such as slant rhymes, half rhymes , and off rhymes. An example of this is in poem #324 where Dickinson writes:

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church—

I keep it, staying at Home—

With a Bobolink for a Chorister—

And an Orchard, for a Dome—

In poem #585, Dickinson does not really exemplify her usual rhyme scheme. Some of the last words on the lines end with the same letter, but this still does not constitute Dickinson’s attempts at keeping a rhyme scheme. Another traditional aspect of Dickinson’s poetry is a definite beginning and an open ending. This poem does not follow this pattern. The beginning is definite, the train is moving from one point to another. However, the poem does not have an open ending. The train goes into the station and stops. Dickinson does not end this poem with her usually feeling that action is taking place in the next line—if there were a next line. The reader knows that the train is going to travel again, but her poems typically leave the reader wondering what happens next. In this poem that sense is not felt, the reader can just say, "Okay, the train stopped." Also, as can be seen from the example of poem #324, Dickinson uses a lot of dashes. However, in poem #585 she only uses two dashes. Another strange aspect of this poem is that she does not break the quatrains in the middle of the poem. Traditionally, Dickinson has a middle stanza that has five lines, or combines two quatrains to make eight lines. This is her way of breaking the sing-song sound of quatrains poetry. In this instance she does not, which could be credited to her trying to make the poem sound like the rhythm of a train. Finally, this poem does not contain her usual capitalization of words that she feels are important and need to be emphasized. As was seem in poem #324, she capitalizes, Sabbath, Church, Home, Bobolink, Chorister, Orchard, and Dome. In poem #585, she does not capitalize any words except the first words of the lines, and Boanerges because it is the name of a group and would be capitalized anyway

Conclusion: Each of these excerpts shows how to identify a Whitman poem or a Dickinson poem. Each poet writes different and each final exam answer shows how to identify which poet you are talking about. They use examples such as lines and stanzas to point out the differences of how each poet writes.