Emily Dickinson's life and literary significance

Life and Death Explored in Emily Dickinson's Poetry

Emily Dickinson is a woman that knew her own mind. In a world that is constantly changing, it is refreshing to look at a poet that lived over a century ago and see strength in character and self-confidence. Dickinson was also not afraid to express herself. Even with a Puritan upbringing, she managed to find her voice and use it to create poetry that is touching people today. One reason that her poetry succeeds is because she thought and wrote about aspects of life that are important to us. Dickinson wrote about the big mysteries in life and her poetry reveals her thoughts and opinions regarding everything from being single to being dead. Because she paints such vivid pictures with her poetry, Dickinson forces us to confront the issues she did with hardly a chance of forgetting them. The poems, "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church," "The Soul Selects Her Own Society," "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died," "Tell All the Truth but Tell it Slant," and "The Bustle in the House" are good representations of Dickinson's life displayed through her work. Each poem allows us to see a personal side of her life or her thought or simply her ideas - all these components making up the poet and the woman. Dickinson might have been a recluse but that fact has no bearing on the worlds she explored.

Norman Foerster asserts that Dickinson's Puritan past was one that did not concern itself with the "outward stir of life, retiring, by preference, deeper and deeper within"(Foerster). Foerster also notes that Dickinson's beliefs came down from her father, who was an "old-type" (Foerster) whose heart, according to his daughter, was "pure and terrible" (Foerster). While we may never know the extent of her religious beliefs or how they or her father influenced her thinking, we can know what she was thinking. Dickinson was pondering the unanswerable questions of the universe. Despite her very private life, she used her mind to travel to the great expanses of the unknown. Yet, she made these excursions "without passing the doorstep, and many more years without leaving her father's grounds" (Foerster). Her private lifestyle is reflected in her poetry and her many hours of thought caused an "introspection that brought her more than the wealth of the Indies" (Foerster). Dickinson's poetry proves that a life does not have to be well traveled to be important.

Dickinson was indeed a very insular person. We might wonder if she would even have a phone if she were alive today. We can see her hermit-like lifestyle reflected in "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church." In this poem, she asserts that she is keeping the Sabbath at home "With a Bobolink for a Chorister-/and an orchard, for a Dome-"(Dickinson Some keep the Sabbath going to Church 326-7). These lines show just how comfortable she is to stay at home even on a religious day. She can find just as much spirituality in a bird's song and an orchard for they represent the choir and the church's dome. From this, we can gather that Dickinson has the ability to see God everywhere and that she does not church to experience God. She envisions herself as a winged creature not in need of a sermon. We can find significance in this poem because it could serve as an example to find solitude in our busy world. In addition, we find allusions to Dickinson's attitude toward an afterlife. She finds no fear in questioning what the afterlife may consist of and appears to focus on the action of "going" to Heaven rather than wondering if she will make it or not. This point-of-view allows us to see Dickinson's independence.

Another poem that symbolizes the poet's life is "The Soul Selects Her Own Society." Again, Dickinson is referring to her solitary life by affirming it, knowing that it is the best lifestyle for her. The poet knows who she is and feels no regret in that. She also does not feel compelled to explain it. This is important to note because the world is filled with many people that never realize who they are and, as a result, never learn to appreciate their worth. In "The Soul selects her own Society," we meet a poet that is proud of her life and despite rejection, she can accept who she is and be happy with it. Her lifestyle is not popular nor is it for everyone but poet declares that it is right for her. The poet's impassioned first line illustrates this point. The poet is "unmoved" (the Soul Selects Her Own Society 5) by anything anyone might say. To demonstrate her seriousness about this, she uses the word twice, reinforcing her opinion. The poem closes with the "valves of her attention" (11), a gesture expressing Dickinson's strong will. "The Soul Selects Her Own Society" brings Dickinson's heart to the forefront because she was able to accept who she was without fear or regret.

Dickinson explored many other otherworldly ideas. In her small room, with pencil and paper, she was able to move into the world of the unknown and look at life and death with unique eyes. It is clear that Dickinson devoted much thought to death. "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" looks at death and then takes a ride with him. What sets this poem apart from all others is the fact that Dickinson is able to see death in a unique way and she structures this poem to fit within a frame of life. For example, we are told that the poet and death pass by a "school were children played" (Because I Could Not Stop for Death 9), representing youth. The "fields of grazing grain" (12) the poet sees indicate the adult stage of life and the "setting sun" (13) is a metaphor for old age. The driver of the carriage is kind enough to stop at the house to allow the passenger one last look at her life before she is taken away. The driver of this carriage is interesting in that he is not portrayed as frightening or ugly. He is well mannered and kind. What is most striking about this poem is the poet's calm attitude. She is not regretful nor does she ask for more time on earth. Instead, she appears ready to accept her fate and move on to the next stage of life. It is also important to realize that the poet did not stop her life for death - it had to stop for her. Life is brief as described in the last line of the poem when we are told that the ride was "shorter than the day" (18). This is the poet's warning to make the most of life because it literally flies by. There is no room for fear in this poem - only life and appreciation of it. This appreciation can be traced to Dickinson's self-appreciation. While she sits in the final carriage ride of her life, she does not regret her reclusive life.

Not all of Dickinson's poetry had such a positive attitude toward death. "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died," is an introspective look at what might happen to us just moments after death. Dickinson entertains the notion of an afterlife but takes it one step further by forcing us to think about a different kind of afterlife than the one we have heard about in history. In other words, she takes a very non-traditional look at what the afterlife might be like. The poet is not completely sold on the idea that what awaits us after death is heavenly and glorious. Instead, the afterlife may be something of a continuation of the ordinary existence that we have here. One thing that this poem shares with "Because" is the cavalier attitude toward death. The poet is completely conscious of the fact that she is dead and she even knows that her loved ones are grieving her. With that grieving comes an awareness of a king, seeming to support a belief in God. However, this is strange because there seems to be no great celebration after life. Nothing significant happens to the deceased and the only thing the poet notices is a buzzing fly. In fact, instead of a glorious welcome into the gates of Heaven, the poet only meets a fly. Dickinson's dead speaker also experiences a "Blue -- uncertain stumbling Buzz" (13), which is still nothing to get excited about when one is expecting the pearly gates. In addition, we are told that there is a "Stillness in the Room / Was like the Stillness in the Air" (2-3). It is interesting to note that the poet remarks how "the windows failed, and then / I could not see to see" (16). Life is a window and when the time comes, the window closes and that is all there is besides the fly and stumbling buzz. All of these scenes indicate that there might be little more than nothing after life. This poem allows us to see that Dickinson was not happy with accepting the traditional attitudes toward death and dying.

Another poem that examines death is "The Bustle in the House." Again, we see death is uneventful. Elizabeth Piedmont-Marton claims that in Dickinson's poetry, "the moment of death seems often less momentous than ordinary" (Piedmont-Marton) and it is "one of the most disturbing and powerful characteristics of Dickinson's poems" (Piedmont-Marton). "The Bustle in the House," demonstrates this assertion very well with its idea of humanity continuing to get along with the "industries" (the Bustle in the House 3) of life after a loved one dies. The heart of the dead is swept up (4), making it seem like the process of death needs a clean sweep and that is it. Mourning is nothing more than a household chore and it is best done quickly. Piedmont-Marton asserts that "by suggesting that the rituals of grief are like the rituals of domestic duty, Dickinson offers a measure of consolation: death is a stage in a cycle, not an end; love will return in time" (Piedmont-Marton). We have another perspective on lie and death from the poet that seemed to be neither afraid to live or die.