When I was reading the three
Dickinson poems, it seemed like a flashback from the first day of class when we
talked about forgiveness and revenge in the poems. The first poem is about
being forgiven as is stated in the second line when it says, “I think just how
my shape will rise—When I shall be “forgiven.” When it says, how my shape will
rise, it’s talking about how the weight will be lifted off the speakers
shoulders because she won’t have to worry about revenge anymore. The second
poem, 1172, follows the same pattern. It talks about the burden of being sought
after for revenge when it says, “How good to be in Tombs Where Nature’s Temper
cannot reach Nor Missile ever comes.” It is saying that the speaker is glad to
be hidden in the temple where he can’t be touched and revenge can’t find him. Contrarily, the last poem urges the
audience to get revenge because it puts a weight on you to have revenge. The
poem says, “Anger as soon as fed is dead” meaning that if you feed your anger
and take revenge then your revenge will die. The poems are interesting in the
different perspectives they take on revenge. The common characteristic is that all
three of the poems talk about revenge as being a burden, whether is it the
recipient or the giver or revenge.
It is interesting how while who is extracting the revenge, Dickinson remains consistent by portraying it negatively in all three poems. Comparing revenge to a burden accurately depicts the message she is trying to get across, that is that revenge is a powerful force which must be addressed. She is able to make a distinction between the need for revenge, which she doesn't support, and the need to extract or receive revenge when it is consuming, which she essentially says is inevitable. It is hard to disagree with this assessment, as anyone who as felt the need for revenge understands the burden it bears.
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