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In Emily Dickinson’s selected poems, I noticed that there were many biblical references and was just going through the poem to piece together want the speaker is trying to say. In the beginning, I believed that the speaker was talking about how he/she “cheated” or missed death by the first stanza; the speaker pointed out how he/she faced God twice at his door. In the second stanza, the speaker says that “I am poor once more!” meaning that he/she lives again and does not face death. From that point on, it felt like a piecing game to figure out what was going on. I could pick out little ideas but cannot see how they all fit. In the sixth stanza, the speaker talks about looking backward and in the seventh talked about looking back to June. I thought it made sense later in the poem when the speaker referenced the death that occurs during fall and is looking back onto the summer. I hope I am not too far off from what is going on, because the rest of it I made little from each stanza and cannot see what the meaning of the poem is.
In Emily Dickinson's poem 465 she says she heard a fly buzz when she dies. I can't help but think of all the preconceptions of death, everyone assumes there is going to be a bright light, their life will flash before them like a slideshow, or they will see Jesus. No one ever assumes that before we die the only thing that we notice is a fly bumbling around above our heads. This creates somewhat of a disappointment for the reader, they had this idea in their heads of the moments before death and Emily dismantles that. The reader would have thought that there would be a revelation or a moment of recognition of her previous life, but there is not. Also, she says that the fly had an "uncertain stumbling buzz" this could represent the narrator hovering around death. Her life has yet to drain out for her and her last moments are about her uncertain death. When she could be reflecting on her life, or spend it thinking about what could be, she is uncertain about it all and instead focusing on the little unimportant fly. In the poem she mentions signing away all that could be signed away, but before she could do so the fly came around. Supposedly the subject of this poem died before her inheritance was distributed, because of the fly. The subject of this poem, even though she knows that she is on her deathbed focuses on the fly instead of the people in the room or on signing away her possessions, it could seem selfish or it could be self-preservation.
In Emily Dickinson’s selected poems I agree with Gabby, these poems are very religious. My favorite line is when she says “success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed.” What I really believe to be true. What is success if you did not have to work for it? She also constantly speaks of death, and how she percepts death. She said she had heard a fly buzz when she died and that the stillness of the room was like the stillness of the air between the heavens and a storm. I took this as like the calm before the storm saying that you hear people say. She was inferring that possibly the initial shock of death is like the calm before the storm when people find out. She was particularly focused on the fly buzzing around which I really cannot draw a connection between death and a buzzing sound.
I had a hard time connecting these poems to one another. I noticed that Emily Dickinson wrote a lot about death and used nature in many poems to create a complex explanation of death.in many poems she seemed to personify death. I heard a fly buzz when I died was interesting because it seemed to represent that dying was not as exciting as everyone believes it will be. The noise of a fly is not what one would expect to hear when they are about to die. It also shows how life goes on without you after your death. Many of the selected poems were about death. From the readings I gathered many different interpretations of death. Some poems such as the ones from page 1078 and 465 state how life continues after your death. Pain also seemed to be a theme that accompanied death. In the poem from page 65, she states that pain has an element of blank, and it has no future but itself. I interpreted this as pain is only temporary. The poem from 712 shows how a person has no control over death. Death is everywhere. Death can choose anyone and when it chooses that person it is forever
In Emily Dickinson’s selected Poems there are a few biblical references, starting with Poem 130, line 13 to the end of the poem there are references to the sacrament of Communion. I explains the last communion in which nature’s fall is compared to the death of Christ. So, when it says the sacrament of summer days there is the comparison of summer coming to an end a Christ did as well. The poem also states “They consecrated bread to take and thine immortal wine!” This is a direct resemblance of the last summer and the bread and wine which is transformed into Christ’s body and blood. It is the last night Christ and his disciples will spend before the death of Christ. Could be compared to summer/ nature and the changing seasons? Another biblical reference made is in Poem 214 when Seraphs are mentioned. Seraphs are known for the highest ranking of an angel usually represented as a child’s head with wings surrounding. These angels are known to protect God’s throne In poem 1732 there is religion expressed. The first line, “My life closed twice before its close;” makes me think about how people have had near death experiences or events in which you think you are nearing death. Also, in the last stanza the line “parting is all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell.”, now this line is merely up for interpretation. To me, I believe it means that because “parting is all we know of heaven” is expressing that parting or leaving the physical world is permanent and that we can either experience heaven or hell. Going back to the near death experiences I think that if we come back from this near death experience it must be from heaven as no one would really come back from hell. Or can they? I guess there is major room for interpretation of this short but very in depth poem.
In Emily Dickinson’s selected poems, I noticed that there were many biblical references and was just going through the poem to piece together want the speaker is trying to say. In the beginning, I believed that the speaker was talking about how he/she “cheated” or missed death by the first stanza; the speaker pointed out how he/she faced God twice at his door. In the second stanza, the speaker says that “I am poor once more!” meaning that he/she lives again and does not face death. From that point on, it felt like a piecing game to figure out what was going on. I could pick out little ideas but cannot see how they all fit. In the sixth stanza, the speaker talks about looking backward and in the seventh talked about looking back to June. I thought it made sense later in the poem when the speaker referenced the death that occurs during fall and is looking back onto the summer. I hope I am not too far off from what is going on, because the rest of it I made little from each stanza and cannot see what the meaning of the poem is.
ReplyDeleteIn Emily Dickinson's poem 465 she says she heard a fly buzz when she dies. I can't help but think of all the preconceptions of death, everyone assumes there is going to be a bright light, their life will flash before them like a slideshow, or they will see Jesus. No one ever assumes that before we die the only thing that we notice is a fly bumbling around above our heads. This creates somewhat of a disappointment for the reader, they had this idea in their heads of the moments before death and Emily dismantles that. The reader would have thought that there would be a revelation or a moment of recognition of her previous life, but there is not. Also, she says that the fly had an "uncertain stumbling buzz" this could represent the narrator hovering around death. Her life has yet to drain out for her and her last moments are about her uncertain death. When she could be reflecting on her life, or spend it thinking about what could be, she is uncertain about it all and instead focusing on the little unimportant fly. In the poem she mentions signing away all that could be signed away, but before she could do so the fly came around. Supposedly the subject of this poem died before her inheritance was distributed, because of the fly. The subject of this poem, even though she knows that she is on her deathbed focuses on the fly instead of the people in the room or on signing away her possessions, it could seem selfish or it could be self-preservation.
ReplyDeleteIn Emily Dickinson’s selected poems I agree with Gabby, these poems are very religious. My favorite line is when she says “success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed.” What I really believe to be true. What is success if you did not have to work for it? She also constantly speaks of death, and how she percepts death. She said she had heard a fly buzz when she died and that the stillness of the room was like the stillness of the air between the heavens and a storm. I took this as like the calm before the storm saying that you hear people say. She was inferring that possibly the initial shock of death is like the calm before the storm when people find out. She was particularly focused on the fly buzzing around which I really cannot draw a connection between death and a buzzing sound.
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time connecting these poems to one another. I noticed that Emily Dickinson wrote a lot about death and used nature in many poems to create a complex explanation of death.in many poems she seemed to personify death. I heard a fly buzz when I died was interesting because it seemed to represent that dying was not as exciting as everyone believes it will be. The noise of a fly is not what one would expect to hear when they are about to die. It also shows how life goes on without you after your death. Many of the selected poems were about death. From the readings I gathered many different interpretations of death. Some poems such as the ones from page 1078 and 465 state how life continues after your death. Pain also seemed to be a theme that accompanied death. In the poem from page 65, she states that pain has an element of blank, and it has no future but itself. I interpreted this as pain is only temporary. The poem from 712 shows how a person has no control over death. Death is everywhere. Death can choose anyone and when it chooses that person it is forever
ReplyDeleteIn Emily Dickinson’s selected Poems there are a few biblical references, starting with Poem 130, line 13 to the end of the poem there are references to the sacrament of Communion. I explains the last communion in which nature’s fall is compared to the death of Christ. So, when it says the sacrament of summer days there is the comparison of summer coming to an end a Christ did as well. The poem also states “They consecrated bread to take and thine immortal wine!” This is a direct resemblance of the last summer and the bread and wine which is transformed into Christ’s body and blood. It is the last night Christ and his disciples will spend before the death of Christ. Could be compared to summer/ nature and the changing seasons? Another biblical reference made is in Poem 214 when Seraphs are mentioned. Seraphs are known for the highest ranking of an angel usually represented as a child’s head with wings surrounding. These angels are known to protect God’s throne In poem 1732 there is religion expressed. The first line, “My life closed twice before its close;” makes me think about how people have had near death experiences or events in which you think you are nearing death. Also, in the last stanza the line “parting is all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell.”, now this line is merely up for interpretation. To me, I believe it means that because “parting is all we know of heaven” is expressing that parting or leaving the physical world is permanent and that we can either experience heaven or hell. Going back to the near death experiences I think that if we come back from this near death experience it must be from heaven as no one would really come back from hell. Or can they? I guess there is major room for interpretation of this short but very in depth poem.
ReplyDelete