How Is Figurative Language Used In Emily Dickinson's Poetry

December 10, 1830, the town of Amherst, Massachusetts quietly received the little girl who would grow to give identity to the very essence of the American poet. Emily Dickinson, an enigmatic recluse and unlikely literary genius would become, after her death in 1886, one of the most iconic figures in American literature. Dickinson was notably peculiar; this peculiarity most certainly contributes to the great intrigue surrounding her eerie writing. From 1860 to her death, Dickinson lived virtually in complete isolation, on her childhood homestead. It was during this time that she wrote her most esteemed works. Dickinson’s poetry mirrors the writing of the seventeenth century Metaphysical-Era poets in Europe, and by large, her internal perceptions

In her poem, Fame is a Fickle Food, Dickinson expertly conveys the message of the poem through metaphor and alliteration, using triple “F’s” for emphasis, and likening fame to fickle food, food that overtime, grows rotten. Metaphor is again used when comparing fame to a life of anonymity. “Whose crumbs the crows inspect/ and with ironic caw/ flap past it to the Farmer’s Corn”. Dickinson compares fame to crumbs, friable and undependable, as opposed to a life out of the limelight, the “Farmer’s Corn”, nourishing and sustainable for the soul. Additionally metaphor is used when comparing fame to a shifting table place. “Whose table once a/ Guest but not/ The second time is set”, eluding to the notion that being famous one day does not ensure your fame the next. Finally, Dickinson closes the poem with a clever allusion to the bible, “Men eat of it and die”. This is an allusion to a similar phrase written in the bible, and is thus warning the reader the danger of fame by comparing it to the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Likewise, in her poem, Success is Counted Sweetest, metaphor is in abundance. For example, to convey the allure of success, she used a metaphor which doubles as an allusion, “… To comprehend a nectar”. Nectar was often revered in Greek mythology as the drink of the gods; here is is used to elevate the prestige of success and

In both Fame is a Fickle Food, and Success is Counted Sweetest, Dickinson’s writing is very reflective, almost to the point of transcendence. As a reader the two poems seem like they have been written from afar from a wise spectator. Success is Counted Sweetest runs as a story about two armies, and specifically, a losing soldier. The poem is a paradox to convey her belief that success is not most valued by those who actually achieve it, but by those who never do. She argues that the dying solider understands the value of success better than the soldiers who were ultimately victorious, as his failure cost him his life. This stylistic omniscience is continued in, Fame is a Fickle Food. Dickinson wrote as if she were a bird quietly analyzing human society through sagacious lenses. The truth behind of the previous statement is validated by the fact that Dickinson herself never published any of her works during her lifetime. These two poems in particular are quite wise and unconventional ways of perceiving fame and success, two societal aspects that are often blindly praised and lusted