Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality. Dickinson was known as a very reclusive person.
-Theme of death as a release from vengeance
-237 "out of sight - in Heaven" is when she will be forgiven
-1172 includes a speaker that is fleeing from the vengeance of nature-man- by dying.
-The dead are better off than the living. Death as a release from vengeance. Dickinson flips around the usual sadness of death and makes it more of a state of peace.
-Overtones suggest relation to the civil war.
-Possible irony: Dickinson maybe saying she hopes that she is "safe" in her tomb by the time we all destroy each other in a great war.
-1509 furthers the idea of retribution seeking as a matter of life and death -- "anger as soon as fed is dead"
-Life and death as the fulcrum of anger
-Holding hate inside throughout your life won't do any good after you are dead, and if anything will cause problems in afterlife. This is why she advocates for forgiveness
Revenge as a burden
Structure:
-How does her unusual capitalization and italicization affect the meaning of her poems?
-1172: capitalizes "Cloud", "Forests", "Lightning", and "Thunder"--> example of personification. Why??
-In death, the body and more importantly the soul are immune to "Nature's Temper" as well as man's vengeance.
-Significantly more structure than Whitman's poems
-All stanzas are 4 lines with a clear pattern and rhythmic repetition
Role of Vocabulary
-Precision of word choice allows for writer to keep poems short and have strong messages.
-"Mine enemy is growing old" -- "anger", "starving", "avenge", and "enemy" create feelings of disdain
-"I think just how my shape will rise"-- "rise", "forgiven" and "prayer" create religious context in beginning. Next stanza, shift in vocabulary indicates a sense of moving away and "brokenness"
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