ipl-logo

Emily Dickinson's Heart We Will Forget Him?

1429 Words6 Pages

Many authors use their works as an emotional outlet. An emotional outlet is a way for a person to express their emotions through art or a hobby, usually something healthy and non-destructive to themselves or others. Emotional outlets, such as poetry or literature, provide a platform for an author to voice their opinions on topics relevant to themselves or the world around them. The voice is not always found through words, but can be seen within artwork or performances. One particular voice that stands out in American poetry is that of Emily Dickinson. Her poetry is unique is because of its brief nature and rigid scheme, the exact opposite of Walt Whitman, another popular poet in the time period. One of the reasons that Dickinson is so famous …show more content…

We will forget Him!” uses not only the words but the punctuation to comment upon the effect of emotion and logic, alluding to Dickinson’s own struggle with anger and love. The narrator expresses her anger through the use of exclamation points, demanding “Heart! We will forget him!”(1). There is a clear indication that the narrator is wanting intellect to win over her emotions, but that is almost never the case. The narrator assumes forgetting her lover will make the pain better and is angry at her heart for not allowing her to forget him. She wants to forget him as soon as possible “Haste! Lest while you’re lagging” (7), once again using an exclamation point to indicate anger and hurry, wanting the pain to end. The narrator is angry at herself for not being able to forget him and letting him get to her. Dickinson may have used this poem to express her feelings about an unrequited love interest and the pain that comes with it. In this poem, Dickinson is implying that forgetting someone or moving on is a lot harder when it is not certain if the feelings were ever shared. The truth may not be positive, but it is better than uncertainty. The narrator has been hurt somehow by her lover, and is not only angry with him but at herself. Pain makes it harder to forget someone as well. The narrator thinks that if the emotion goes away, so will the pain and the memories, which may be true, but the narrator is not entirely certain. However, she demands her heart to hurry with the process of forgetting, hoping that this solution will

Show More
Related

  • There's A Certain Slant Of Light Analysis

    771 Words  | 4 Pages

    When describing the “Heavenly Hurt” (5) from the light, Dickinson states one can find “internal difference / Where the Meanings are---” (6-7). Pain, in this sense, is an individual experience--yet, the ‘difference’ is unknown. Then, a brusque shift to the next stanza takes place, where she says “None may teach it--Any--” (9), contradicting herself from the previous stanza. This change in tone, from contemplative to severe, highlights the poet’s aberration of faith. While pain may be felt universally, the unique definition cannot be explained verbally, as the feeling varies amongst people.

    Read More

  • Adversity In Emily Dickinson's Poetry

    1156 Words  | 5 Pages

    Nevertheless she maintained toward his morose man an attitude of teasing affection. “He buys me many books- but begs me not to read them- because he fears they joggle the mind.” Her father was regarded as a tyrannical Puritan who controlled his daughter’s life and lightened it (Benfey 27). Moreover, in her late twenties or early thirties, Dickinson had a very shattering and emotional experience as she faced many disappointments relating to love; because of this she spent a great deal of time alone in her Amherst home. Furthermore, in 1854, Dickinson met with Reverend Charles Wadsworth in Philadelphia, and he could have possibly been the “inspiration for some of her love poems” (Emily Dickinson Biography).

    Read More

  • Alliteration In Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop For Death

    119 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Because I Could Not Stop for Death Dickinson uses alliteration repeatedly to describe her mortal life and immortal life. For example, in line 7 she says, “My labor and my leisure too”. This describes how she put away all the work and all the pleasure of her mortal life. Signifying how none of these mortal aspects matter anymore as death is taking her away. Another example, in line 15, “For only Gossamer, my Gown” Dickinson uses a very eerie form of alliteration as she describes being covered in cob webs, this gossamer is her gown for eternity.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Battle Royal

    1021 Words  | 5 Pages

    She shows that she feels that is useless because she says “tell it to the bog –the livelong June- to an admiring Bog!” (Dickinson 7-8). The poem “I can wade grief”, further shows how her writings were affected by the death of her family members and romances, Dickinson says “I Can wade grief, whole pools of it, I am used to that” (Dickinson 1-3; Emily Dickinson's Biography). Another sign of Dickinson’s depressing thoughts of solitude and losses are shown when she writes the poem “Are friends a

    Read More

  • Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop For Death

    1000 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the opening stanza the speaker states being too busy for death. Thus, death “kindly” takes the time to stop for her since she has no time to do it for herself. Death stops to pick up the speaker and take her on a ride in his horse-drawn carriage in the form of a suitor along with “immorality” being their chaperon. This “civility” that Death exhibits leads the speaker on giving up what made her busy as Dickinson states “And I had put away / My labor and my leisure too (6-7).

    Read More

  • Comparing Phyllis Wheatley's Upon Being Brought From Africa To America

    441 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the poem, Dickinson describes Death as a male that keeps coming for her while she is trying to escape him. In the first two lines, she uses personification, giving Death human characteristics. “Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me,” emphasizing death as a male and how he has stopped for her at this point. In lines 9-12, Dickinson uses imagery to create a picture for the reader to emphasize what she and Death are witnessing as they are passing through the area. Imagery is used throughout the poem to illustrate what she is seeing such as children at recess and passing the Fields of Gazing Grain and watching the Sun Set as they take a walk.

    Read More

  • Madness And Obsession In Tell-Tale Heart

    401 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dickinson’s use of repetition and onomatopoeia helps show just how mad the narrator really is. It is stated,” Kept beating-beating- till I thought my mind was going numb”. The narrator is hearing noises that aren’t really there like the “beating” of a drum which supports the idea she is crazy. The first person point of view helps show that apparent funeral that is taking place inside of her mind. She states,” I felt a funeral, in my Brain…

    Read More

  • Emily Dickinson's Second Great Awakening

    1257 Words  | 6 Pages

    She did not get the recognition she deserved or see the rest of her work become published. Dickinson is one of the most important people in literature. Her poems changed a lot of people by making them feel emotions. Some people think it was just a girl writing her feelings down and that is what she did to most to most of her poems but what

    Read More

  • Comparing Dickinson And Whitman's Poetry

    932 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout her poem, “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –,” the speaker of the poem is dying in her deathbed surrounded by loved ones, and how she is experiencing a memory of death and how she is enduring it. As the people at the deathbed are “gathering firm” around her, they are in an understanding that she will die and are waiting for her demised (Dickinson). The “eyes” of the beloved ones were flowing of tears and crying to the dying loved one of the deathbed (Dickinson). Throughout Dickinson’s poem, no happiness is brought upon inside the poem because all that the author sees the theme of death as sadness and

    Read More

  • American Romanticism: Emily Dickinson And Walt Whitman

    1214 Words  | 5 Pages

    When Dickinson was young she thought of death as a kind, peaceful gentleman. She elaborates on this idea in her poem “Because I could not Stop for Death”, “Because I could not stop for Death/ He kindly stopped for me/ We slowly drove - He knew no haste,” Emily Dickinson uses the personification of Death in a way that bears resemblance to a classy, peaceful gentleman who is willing to slowly guide and patiently wait for a lady. Her wording also gives the connotation that she is young and in love with this gentle Death. This idea abruptly turns into hatred when she loses her parents.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Love And Hate Comparison

    566 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hate is seen from a very similar point of view with these two pieces of literature, as both feel life is too short for it, and it is too unfulfilling. In Dickinson’s poem, she says “I had no time to hate, because/ The grave would hinder me” (1-2) This shows that if she were to hate, life would not be long enough to do so.

    Read More

  • Emily Dickinson And Walt Whitman Analysis

    763 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is bonded with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words,”(Paul Engle). Poetry covers all spectrums of life, whether it encompasses morality, love, death, or finding ones true self. When reading poetry one may stumble across pure brilliance, words so powerful they have the ability challenge the mind. Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman have that such gift, and are nothing short of illustrious.

    Read More

  • Emily Dickinson's Essay 'I' M Nobody ! Who Are You?

    420 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dickinson communicates why she dislikes being a “somebody” by using a simile. She writes that a “somebody…like a Frog” will feel pressured “to tell one’s name - the livelong June - to an admiring Bog” to maintain their status (Dickinson 847). This simile shows that the narrator dislikes the idea of having to retain public attention through their actions. Interpretation Throughout her poem, Dickinson tries

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between Emily Dickinson And Walt Whitman

    2095 Words  | 9 Pages

    On the one hand, if one goes deeply into Dickinson’s poem “This is my letter to the world”, where one can say that this poem can be appreciated that the speaker is complaining about the way that life has gone on. At first sight it is possible to observe that the language used by Dickinson was very simple because it was easy to understand. However, it was more complex than it seems to be, because a different meaning could have been given to the poem if it is analyzed in a deeper way. Moreover the poetic devices that she uses make the poem very attractive for the reader and also easy to follow because of the musicality that her rhymes produced in the way it is read, as in the ones used in the verse 2: “That never wrote to Me”, compared to verse 4: “With tender Majesty”, where the endings have the same sound. (Dickinson, poem #441: This is my letter to the

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Emily Dickinson's Attitude Towards Death

    938 Words  | 4 Pages

    The only certainty in life is death. It is something that shows up in every single art movement and style. This includes the work of Dickinson who lived when death would have been an ever present reality. She dealt with the death of family members as well as close friends. However Dickinson 's references to death tend to swing between the usual almost fear of it and this seeming picture of death as an almost kind figure that is not to be feared.

    Read More

More about Emily Dickinson's Heart We Will Forget Him?

Open Document