Emily Dickinson's Second Great Awakening

I believe this is due to her loneliness and solitude throughout her 20’s and 30’s (Emily Dickinson's Biography). It also was probably an effect of the losses in her life and the time period she was in being rather stagnate compared to society today ( Garcia, Emily Dickinson). Dickinson likely was depressed and found little satisfaction in anything outside of literature. She likely found that she could excel in writing and put fourth much energy towards it. Literature became Dickinson’s life.

Her experience at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary implies a dislike of society as a whole; however, some of her poetry provides evidence of her exclusion as a personal choice rather than a hatred for her community. Dickinson attempts to publish her poetry in various newspapers, but to little avail. Her eagerness for publication indicates an acceptance of the society around her, but she refuses to partake. After her death, a friend discovers a considerable amount of her poetry, and it publishes it. People read her poetry, but it's effect remains questionable- the content sends vague messages not necessarily influential to the community she often speaks

Growing up, Dickinson spent most of her life at her home and in her hometown, she did not travel far besides for college, and even then she returned home because of homesickness and poor heath; her own poems were not even published until after her death- she instead sent them to friends. Even with her death, her reclusive behavior continued as she had special instructions to be buried so that her corpse would be in the sight of her home. Her father was not interested in allowing his children to read anything other than the bible. In Richard Wilbur’s criticism on Dickinson, he mentions that she had “refusal of such as ideas as original sin, redemption, hell, and election, she made it impossible for herself- as Whicher observed- “to share the

Another literary device that Dickinson uses in this poem is satire. Satire, in literature, is the making fun of a human character flaw or some type of human weakness. She uses satire to point out the flaws in society such as their need to talk and go on about the smallest and most unimportant details even if they know that the person which they are talking to does not really care. She states that it must be boring to be one of the “somebody’s”, with all the noise and attention that they receive directing what they do. She seems to be making fun of the” somebody’s” for trying to fit into a society that only cares about their own individual images.

In “Because I could not stop for Death” Dickinson views death as a kind person, “He kindly stopped for me” (752). He stops to pick up a woman that is to busy in life the notice that he is there. He takes her on a carriage ride from life to afterlife. Since death is so kind to stop for her she stops doing the things that make her so busy so they can enjoy the ride. As they pass children at play, fields and the setting sun it then becomes a sinister scene.

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.

Whitman and Dickinson share the theme of death in their work, while Whitman decides to speak of death in a more realistic point of view, Dickinson speaks of the theme in a more conceptual one. In Whitman’s poems, he likes to have a more empathic view of individuals and their ways of living. For example, in Whitman’s “Song of Myself”, the poet talks about not just of himself, but all human beings, and of how mankind works into the world and the life of it. Even though the poem mostly talks about life and the happiness of it, Whitman describes also that life itself has its ending, and that is the theme of death. For Dickinson, she is the complete opposite of happiness.

Religion is undoubtedly something that is incredibly important for many people. It at times serves as a source of comfort, a sense of purpose, or even a sense of belonging. Because of this, it has been a common origin of inspiration for many poets regardless of origin and time. Anne Bradstreet and Emily Dickinson are no exception. Both reference religious beliefs and God numerous times throughout their works, but they do so in different ways.

One might argue her writing also touched upon many of the ideals associated with transcendentalism, including the investigation of human life and immortality. Clearly, Dickinson incorporated transcendentalistic views of self-examination and nature in her poems, “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” and “I Never Saw a Moor”, but this does not conclude that she was a true transcendentalist member. In comparison to Thoreau and Emerson she was not strongly promoting transcendentalism. Transcendentalism was a movement to overcome issues such as materialism and political corruption, as in Thoreau’s essay “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” where he explains that “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us”, but Dickinson was not advocating to uphold these ideals. She acknowledged the ideas within her writing by using the poems to evaluate her own intuition, not to advise her readers.

Dickinson 's great display of attitude really gave me a chance of figuring out the message she was giving out. In the second stanza, Dickinson says, “If I could see you in a year, I’d wind the months in balls, and put them each in separate drawers, until their time befalls.” Dickinson is showing great hope in this portion of the poem. In order to throw out colossal amounts of time this women must be very hopeful that he comes. No one is willing to give up centuries of time for nothing.

She explored and wrote about her feelings. Most of her poems are about pain and tragedy. Emily Dickinson was a very influential poet, because she was one of the first female poets, she aided in women’s movements, and she impacted on American literature. Emily was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10, 1830. She mostly stayed at home and rarely went out to explore the world.

Emily Dickinson was an American poet who became one of the defining poets of her generation. Though she did not see great success in her lifetime, her poems have been posthumously acclaimed and critiqued by many. Her method of writing was unique compared to the norm, which has proved to be her strength and downfall. Through her defining style, Emily Dickinson used known methods and her own personal idiosyncrasies to write about the subjects that personally enthralled her. While there are exceptions to the rule, a great majority of Emily Dickinson's poems follow a similar structure.

Dickinson began writing early on, yet her first piece was published after her death. Dickinson’s writing can be describe as gloomy or dark, whereas Whitman’s is not. Throughout her work she portrays how life merely continues and exploits the darker, less noticeable meaning of daily life events. Her writing is extremely precise, she uses slant rhymes through her writing. By doing such she is able to put emphasis on certain words to convey the prominence of what is being said.

Emily Dickinson lived during a time when many would become very well acquainted with death. As such it would become a specter that was feared as it could make an appearance at any time. So looking at Dickinson 's work it seems rather interesting that taken as a collection there seems to be the tale of one character that comes to view death in a multitude of different ways throughout their life. First is the feared figure that leaves them restless, then death comes as something numbing but leaves the living to celebrate the life of the one that has passed, life as a story that is completed and finished upon death, and finally coming to see death as kind figure that takes one to a new home. this finally view is what paints death as something that is not to be feared but rather as something natural, it is the next

Although she spent the majority of her life secluded in her room, Emily Dickinson is considered one of the most revolutionary American poets. Her legacy is one that has transformed poetry and allowed for “modern thought and technique” (Faulkner). Dickinson’s overly imaginative mind forced her to indulge in writing. Language allowed her to transfer these thoughts and emotions from her imagination to poetry. Although she was born into a prominent family, Dickinson lived a simple life, forming close relationships with friends through letters.