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Emily Dickinson's Diction

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Emily Dickinson addresses death and how people cope with death through her use of varying tones in “The Last Night That She Lived”. Though the poem describes the moment at the end of the woman’s life, the different tones that Dickinson expresses throughout the piece reflect the emotions that arise at the beginning and years after the death. Ever stanza expresses a varying emotion that one feels when faced with death, demonstrating how Dickinson believes that life moves on after death. The tone of the poem is calm at first. The death of the woman has not been fully realized or absorbed by the speaker as Dickinson describes it to just be a “Common Night” (2). This calm is shattered by shock and sadness as Dickinson highlights that the night was ordinary “Except the Dying” in the following line (3). This portrays the suddenness of death and how life appears to suddenly change as “we noticed smallest things” and priorities change (5). Death becomes “this great light upon our Minds” that changes how people view life as its end stares back at them and they begin to mourn both for the person that is dying and the …show more content…

The stanza begins with a tone of confusion or indecision as the speaker moves “Between Her final Room/ And Rooms where Those to be alive”, representing the struggle of coping with death as one is greatly impacted with the death but must try to move on and continue living (10-11). This confusion and indecision turns into accusation as “tomorrow were, a Blame” and the speaker searches for a reason for the death and the turmoil that they are faced with (12). This transforms into a jealousy for the dying woman as “Others could exist/ While She must finish quite” (13-14) The speaker believes that once the woman is dead, they will be unable to truly life and simply exist. This produces a sense of jealousy as the speaker feels that he/she is left to mourn forever while the dying woman finds

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932 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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586 Words | 3 Pages

This poem portrays that in life you will always go through rough times, and at some points feel hopeless and at a loss. But, it finishes with a lightening of the night a revival of hope and Dickinson I think is trying to reason out why suicide in life is never the option because no matter how dark the night may seem you can grow to it and learn how to deal with the problems life

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509 Words | 3 Pages

“The Last Night That She Lived” Commentary Death has a drastic and harrowing effect on a person. Often, a person’s senses will be enhanced and a deep sense of grief will come about. Emily Dickinson applies structure, diction, and figurative language in the poem “The Last Night That She Lived” to emphasize the effect death can have on another person. Dickinson incorporates structure to portray the narrator’s raw emotions towards the woman’s death.

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254 Words | 2 Pages

The speaker does not know what is mentally oppressing her but she does know "It" is not death, darkness, coldness. This abstract "It" bothers her so much that the "It" leads to creating this poem in order to interpret her own thought that has been tormenting her. Her internal conflict is so impactful that she thinks about her own death when she sees someone else's funeral. She puts herself in the shoes of dead person who is in coffin and thinks "When everything that ticked - has stopped."

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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.

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453 Words | 2 Pages

Have you ever wondered what happens after you die? Death is a problem for all people. It is also a topic that weighs heavily on the mind of 18th century poet, Emily Dickinson. In the poem, “I heard a fly buzz - when I died.” by Emily Dickinson, she uses symbolism and figurative language to express her ideas and feelings about death.

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975 Words | 4 Pages

In the poem “Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson, death is described as a person, and the narrator is communicating her journey with death in the afterlife. During the journey the speaker describes death as a person to accompany her during this journey. Using symbolism to show three locations that are important part of our lives. The speaker also uses imagery to show why death isn 't’ so scary.

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625 Words | 3 Pages

The poem that stood out the most while reading this assortment of Emily Dickinson poems, was her poem numbered 656/520. This poem used imagery in numerous ways throughout in order to show the audience the important themes and the overall meaning of this work of literature. The poem’s main theme was about a walk on the beach that the poet encountered in the early morning. Although the poem is about a beach it can also give the audience contextual clues into other aspects of life.

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1000 Words | 4 Pages

The speaker seems completely at ease with the Death as they move along at a relaxed pace. In the third stanza, the reader sees reminders of the world that the speaker is passing through, with children playing, fields of grain, and the sun setting. However, the speakers place in the world shifts between the third stanza and the next. Dickinson states, “We passed the Setting Sun- (12)”, but at the beginning of the fourth stanza, the speaker corrects this by stating, “Or rather – / He passed us – (13) ” because she has died. In the rest of the

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812 Words | 4 Pages

This suggests that grief is not essential in life and people always forget about grief. This line projects a stereotypical definition of grief which has a negative connotation. Continuing with the first line “The summer lapsed away --” (2) and “Too Imperceptible, at last” (3) she implies grief is not an everlasting thing. It will just be like summer, which will eventually pass by. Dickinson uses personification in line 2 as if the summer is running away.

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843 Words | 4 Pages

The poem takes place in a bedroom where someone is on their deathbed. It is so quiet that a fly is heard buzzing around the room. The speaker is going through the rituals of an expected death, surrounded by family and friends all waiting for death to arrive. The speaker is taking their last breaths and is waiting for God to lead them to the afterlife, “For that last Onset-when the King Be witnessed-in the room”(753). The speaker continues the ritual, willing away all material possessions and then is worried that their soul will not be “Assignable” (753).

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128 Words | 1 Pages

“There’s been a Death, in the Opposite House” by Emily Dickinson helps readers understand what happened after the death. The poem talks about a death that happened in a house and how the dark memory will always be there. Readers can see the connection of chaotic town people and a very dull and dark environment. The figurative language guides readers through the panic and suffering of all the towns people. Dickinson writes, “There’ll be that dark parade” (Line 20).

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932 Words | 4 Pages

In Dickinson’s poem, death is not as terrifying as it is believed to be by most people. She sees death as a beautiful thing, a new chapter, rather than the last chapter. In contrast, Donne personifies death as a bully who turns out not to be so tough. Death is often thought of as dark and frightening, but Dickinson describes death as a journey, and not just a single event that concludes a life.

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926 Words | 4 Pages

In “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, Emily Dickinson uses imagery and symbols to establish the cycle of life and uses examples to establish the inevitability of death. This poem describes the speaker’s journey to the afterlife with death. Dickinson uses distinct images, such as a sunset, the horses’ heads, and the carriage ride to establish the cycle of life after death. Dickinson artfully uses symbols such as a child, a field of grain, and a sunset to establish the cycle of life and its different stages. Dickinson utilizes the example of the busyness of the speaker and the death of the sun to establish the inevitability of death.

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938 Words | 4 Pages

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

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