LITR 4232 American Renaissance 2008
Text-Objective Presentation

Tuesday, 2 December: Emily Dickinson second meeting

Poems: "I heard a Fly buzz--when I died--" (2579); "This World is not Conclusion" (2572); "I started Early--Took my Dog--" (2582); "I cannot live with You--"; "Because I could not stop for Death--" (2578); "A narrow Fellow in the Grass" [riddle poem] (2588); "A Route of Evanescence" [riddle poem] (2591)

Text-Objective Discussion: Gena Martinez

2. To study the movement of "Romanticism," the narrative genre of "romance," and the related styles of the "gothic" and "the sublime." (The American Renaissance is the major period of American Romantic Literature.)
Related topics or themes: the Byronic hero; correspondence

3. To use literature as a basis for discussing representative problems and subjects of American culture (Historicism), such as equality (race, gender, class); modernization and tradition; the individual, family; and community; nature; the role of writers in an anti-intellectual society.

Page 2582

I started Early - Took my Dog -
And visited the Sea -
The Mermaids in the Basement
Came out to look at me -

And Frigates - in the Upper Floor
Extended Hempen Hands -
Presuming Me to be a Mouse -
Aground - upon the Sands -

But no Man moved Me - till the Tide
Went past my simple Shoe -
And past my Apron - and my Belt
And past my Bodice - too -

And made as He would eat me up -
As wholly as a Dew
Upon a Dandelion's Sleeve -
And then - I started - too -

And He - He followed - close behind -
I felt His Silver Heel
Upon my Ankle - Then my Shoes
Would overflow with Pearl -

Until We met the Solid Town -
No One He seemed to know
And bowing - with a Mighty look -
At me - The Sea withdrew -

1) read poem

2) analyze poem- different interpretations - power, man, death

3) discuss elements of poem, such as dashes, slant rhyme, alliteration

Questions

1) Other than rhyme, what other ways is Dickinson lyrical?

2) Why do you think she uses dashes in her poetry writing?

p. 2578

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed us –
The Dews drew quivering and chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity

1) read poem

2) analyze poem- different interpretations - power, man, death

3) discuss elements of poem, such as dashes, slant rhyme, alliteration

Questions

1) How is this poem Gothic?

2) what uses of slant rhyme do you see?