In the poem “Visiting Hour” by Norman MacCaig, A seemingly normal event acquires deeper significance by the end of the poem. The event taking place in the poem is a visit to a hospital, and through the writer’s use of literary techniques the reader is made to understand how he is feeling and appreciate the themes of the poem. The poem begins with the writer making his way to the ward in which the dying woman, presumably his wife, lies “in a white cave of forgetfulness”. As well as being taken on the literal journey with the writer, we are made to feel how he is feeling as he reaches an understanding of death’s inevitability, and leaves the ward knowing he is helpless to do anything to prevent this woman from dying. The main themes of the
Dickinson’s stanza in her poem: We grow accustomed to the Dark - When Light is put away - As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp, To witness her Goodbye – (Lines 1-4). This supports how Emily Dickinson’s poem relates to the universal concept by giving us a situation where one must overcome obstacles (their fears). Dickinson explains how the mind influences how we see things. though the mind gets used to the darkness, so too does the mind change its way of seeing other things.
In his free verse poem “In Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom,” Lloyd Schwartz details how the mysterious bedroom of Emily Dickinson creates an atmosphere of eeriness in and around her life. First, Schwartz employs juxtaposition when he mentions that the empty bedroom is filled with “a chilly light” to reveal that there is an eerie presence in the room; second, Schwartz uses descriptive details to explain that the strange feeling in the bedroom affects the environment beyond Dickinson’s room as he states, “its immaterial lingering infests both the air inside and what we see of the grass outside”; third, Schwartz uses visual imagery to allow the audience to picture the strangeness of Emily Dickinson’s bedroom, by mentioning the “bricked-up chimney and
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.
Death lurks at every corner, as all living things must eventually die. In William E. Stafford’s poem, “Traveling through the Dark,” he presents this idea as a nature-based relationship between the happenings of life and death. As Stafford is a man who acts on impulse, he demonstrates the idea that when encountering death, one should not ignore it completely, but perhaps see what is going on. In this poem, he follows his instincts and seeks to investigate a dead deer he finds at the edge of a road. Upon finding this deer, he examines it steadily, utilizing some of the five senses to confirm this death and learn something more based off this finding.
To Dickinson, darkness seems to represent the unknown. The focus of this poem is people trying to find their way in the dark, where nothing can be foreseen. Sight is a prevalent theme in Untitled, achieved through words like
In Emily Dickinson’s “Accustomed to the Dark,” she uses figurative language to develop a contemplative tone that describes the challenge of facing and adapting to new struggles in our lives. For instance, she uses the metaphor of growing, “Accustomed to the Dark,” using the dark as a metaphor for painful experiences and struggles in one's life. The imagery used in this poem further shows the contemplative tone that describes this challenge.
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…
Emily Dickinson had multiple views on death. At first she was in love with the peaceful, gentle side of death, but that all changed when she lost her everything, her parents to death. The significance is that Romanticism is a diverse thing and it can be shaped a formed to the writers likings, but it will only have an effect if the reader interprets the poem in the same
As said by “The Literature Network”, the Romanticism focuses more on the human itself rather the society around it. Dickinson voices this through her poem. Instead of her explaining what hurt her, she focuses on her own hurt. As a replacement of her using a cause and effect method to present her pain, she focuses on declaring her pain through each word. Her words are carrying imagery.
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.
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
“The Dead” is the final story of the collection “Dubliners” written by James Joyce in 1914. To briefly summarize the story, Gabriel with his wife, Gretta, attended the annual dancing party hosted by his two aunts. However, at the party, Gabriel was confronted with embarrassing situations, such as a housemaid who was provoked by his personal comment and his dance partner who taunted him. At the end of the party, Gabriel found his wife who was enraptured by song and he got to know that his wife was thinking of her old lover who had died for her. Thus, he sadly looked at his wife and the story ended.
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.
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
