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An analysis of Emily Dickinson's poems' themes

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was a famous American poet. Born in

Amherst, Massachusetts. She lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life,

as a result of Emily Dickinson's life of solitude, she was able to focus on

her world more sharply than other authors of her time - contemporary

authors who had no effect on her writing.

Dickinson left no formal statement of her aesthetic intentions and,

because of the variety of her themes, her work does not fit conveniently

into any one genre. But some themes were frequently appeared in her

poems, Dickinson payed high attention to these themes, were we can

make an analysis of this.

Flowers and gardens. Dickinson's "poems and letters almost wholly

concern flowers" and that allusions to gardens often refer to an

"imaginative realm ... wherein flowers are often emblems for actions and

emotions". She associates some flowers, like gentians and anemones,

with youth and humility; others with prudence and insight.

The Master poems. Dickinson left a large number of poems addressed to

"Signor", "Sir" and "Master", who is characterized as Dickinson's "lover

for all eternity". 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. Morbidity. Dickinson's poems reflect her "early and lifelong fascination"

with illness, dying and death, her poems allude to death by many

methods: "crucifixion, drowning, hanging, suffocation, freezing,

premature burial, shooting, stabbing and guillotinage". She reserved her

sharpest insights into the "death blow aimed by God" and the "funeral in

the brain", often reinforced by images of thirst and starvation.

Dickinson's most psychologically complex poems explore the theme that

the loss of hunger for life causes the death of self and place this at "the

interface of murder and suicide".

Gospel poems. Throughout her life, Dickinson wrote poems reflecting a

preoccupation with the teachings of Jesus Christ and, indeed, many are

addressed to him. She stresses the Gospels' contemporary pertinence and

recreates them, often with "wit and American colloquial language". In a

Nativity poem, Dickinson combines lightness and wit to revisit an ancient

theme: "The Savior must have been / A docile Gentleman – / To come so

far so cold a Day / For little Fellowmen / The Road to Bethlehem / Since

He and I were Boys / Was leveled, but for that twould be / A rugged

billion Miles –".

The Undiscovered Continent. Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as

tangible visitable places and that for much of her life she lived within

them. Often, this intensely private place is referred to as the

"undiscovered continent" and the "landscape of the spirit" and embellished with nature imagery. At other times, the imagery is darker

and forbidding—castles or prisons, complete with corridors and

rooms—to create a dwelling place of "oneself" where one resides with

one's other selves. An example that brings together many of these ideas is:

"Me from Myself – to banish – / Had I Art – / Impregnable my Fortress /

Unto All Heart – / But since myself—assault Me – / How have I peace /

Except by subjugating / Consciousness. / And since We're mutual

Monarch / How this be / Except by Abdication – / Me – of Me?".

All the themes discussed above reflect Emily's unique perspectives and

rich imagination, Emily was original and innovative in her poetry, most

often drawing on the Bible, classical mythology, and Shakespeare for

allusions and references. Apart from the major themes discussed above,

Dickinson's poetry frequently uses humor, puns, irony and satire.