Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
The study of geology becomes a central underlying theme in many of her works due to the influence of Hitchcock. Dickinson adopted the view that the study of nature should be an intermingled spiritual as well as naturalist journey, and as a result, places strong emphasis on how to explore spiritual and romantic Truth, through the allegory of nature and geology.
Dickinson's poetic vision was not to advocate the strong use of scientific inquiry in daily life, but rather to perform the opposite function. She attempts to heighten the mysteries of the universe rather than to solve them. Her works attempt to counteract the strong role of scientific inquiry, which attempts to convince us that science can present a complete and undiluted picture of reality as a whole. Dickinson uses science as a vision, complete with technical language and concepts, to amplify rather than detract from the mystery of the world and the universe. In doing so she explores the limitations of science in describing human attributes, "Hope is a strange invention -- / a Patent of the Heart" (P 1392). In another line she writes, "the Arc of a Lover's conjecture / Eludes the finding out" (P 484). These lines are subtly used to demonstrate in their contrast of subjects in science and human emotions the limitations of scientific concepts such as inventions, patents and arcs. In a sense, Dickinson uses science as a masterful demonstration of what human beings are capable of understanding. Through many works, she demonstrates that there is a strong battle between the intellect and the heart, and that it is precisely through the intertwining of these two rather distinct and contradictory feelings that cause the human being to be such an enigma. She reminds us in one poem "Wonder...
Wonder as well as skepticism are driving forces behind our human intuition and desire for understanding, and the essence of leading a fulfilling life depends on using both these foundational forces to our advantage.
The importance of science as a foundation for Dickinson's work is strongly supported. Her early childhood education as well as her college experiences, gave Dickinson a holistic grasp of the contrasting importance of science as well as human nature within the context of understanding existence. As a result, she fully takes advantage of her scientific knowledge to criticize and champion other important elements within her personal life as well as society as a whole. In essence what she accomplishes through her understanding of scientific inquiry is the ability to develop a philosophy hinged on using both emotion and intellect as the foundation for her life. This is the most important lesson that Dickinson conveys through her works, and one that we should all appreciate after closer scrutiny.
White, Fred D. "Sweet skepticism of the heart': Science in the poetry of Emily
Dickinson." College Literature Vol. 19. Issue 1 (Feb. 1992): p121, 8p.
Orsini, Daniel J. "Emily Dickinson and the Romantic Use of Science."
Massachussetts Study of English 7-8 (1981): 57-69.
LeBeau, Kara,. "Was Poet Emily Dickinson a closet geologist?" Geological
Society of America 21 (July 2002): 141-152.
Sewall, Richard B. "Emily Dickinson." The New York Center for Visionary Arts:
Crumbley, Paul. Emily Dickinson's Life. Modern…
Sewall, Richard B. "Emily Dickinson." The New York Center for Visionary Arts:
Crumbley, Paul. Emily Dickinson's Life. Modern American Poetry. 1 Feb. 2007
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/dickinson/bio.htm.
" typical way in which a poem by Dickinson is structured is by the use of the "omitted center." This means that an initial statement is followed by an apparent lack in development and continuity and the inclusion of strange and seemingly alien ideas. However, these often contradictory ideas and images work towards a sense of wholeness and integrity which is essentially open-ended in terms of its meaning. "Often the
Emily Dickinson and "The World is Not Conclusion" The poems of Emily Dickinson have been interpreted in a multitude of ways and often it is hard to separate the narrator of her works with the woman who wrote them. Few authors have such a close association between the individual and their work as Emily Dickinson. In Dickinson's poetry, the narrator and the poet are often seen as interchangeable beings. Themes that
Death is indeed safe from the perspective that nothing in life can hurt or destroy. The dead are "untouched" (2) by everything and nothing. The "meek members of the resurrection" (3) are sleeping, safe and sound, waiting for what awaits them on the other side. The most significant aspect of this stanza is the insinuation that the dead are still waiting for their resurrection, which may, in fact, never
This poem talks of light in winter and compares it to a cathedral, and says that both kinds are "oppressive." It is not easy to figure out exactly what Dickinson is saying in this poem, but much of her poetry seems to have the belief that organized religion is oppressive, where as nature and intrinsic feelings about God are liberating. Many critics note that a religious crisis was probably the
Emily Dickinson, Keetje Kuipers, and Ruth Stone all deal with the idea of death in their poems "Color - Caste -- Denomination," "My First Lover Returns from Iraq," and, respectively, "Reality." These poets focus on this concept with regard to individuals they loved but appear to be less concerned with the tragic nature of death. Instead, they are apparently interested in concentrating on life in contrast to death and with
(Jones, p. 49). These confessional poems are often "searing in their self-inquiry" and "harrowing to the reader" and typically take their metaphors from texts and paintings of Dickinson's day. Some scholars posit that the "Master" is an unattainable composite figure, "human, with specific characteristics, but godlike." (Jones, p. 49). Recent scholars have posited that Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as tangible, places and that for much of her life