Dickinson Project
Block 4
Emily Dickinson Poem analysis
Ernie Chapin
November 4,2011
Block 4
Honors English III
Emily Dickinson
WHO ROBBED THE WOODS
WHO robbed the woods,
The trusting woods?
The unsuspecting trees
Brought out their burrs and mosses
His fantasy to please.
He scanned their trinkets, curious,
He grasped, he bore away.
What will the solemn hemlock,
What will the fir-tree say?
Analysis and Relation
• She means that people are destroy nature and
the forest disappearing are the symbol that she
uses to illustrate this point. She also says how
the trees were unsuspecting and innocent but
had no control of what was to happen.
• The picture relates to the poem because it is dark
and the trees are starting to disappear or be
stolen from the forest. It also sets a dark and
depressing mood which is what Dickinson wants
when she tells this poem. It shows how this is a
sad event that should be stopped.
Emily Dickinson Project
By: kellie kincaid
•
“Wind and Waves" by Sandra Reeves Cutrer
Wild Nights – Wild Nights!
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
Were I with thee
Wild Nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile – the Winds –
To a Heart in port –
Done with the Compass –
Done with the Chart!
Rowing in Eden –
Ah, the Sea!
Might I but moor – Tonight –
In Thee!
Why This Poem ?
• I think Dickinson is trying to say or explain
how she wants to just travel on the ocean
for the night . Traveling on the ocean is
like her luxury . She enjoys the ocean ,
and she is not using a compass .
Imagery
• Imagery is a big part of the poem . She paints
you a picture of what the ocean looks like .
Examples : the wind , rowing in eden , and ah
the sea !
• Example : To a Heart in port –
Done with the Compass –
Done with the Chart!
• - I think that she means to her love at port , or
land , that she is not using a compass so she will
not know where she will go. This paints a picture
in my mind of her rowing away and leaving her
love at port .
Picture and Poem ?
• In the picture you can see the winds , the
ocean , and it was dark just like Dickinson
described in the poem . I feel this picture
fits the poem best because it just flows .
The feel you get from reading the poem is
the image that the picture is .
Emily Dickinson Poem
By: Jocqui Brown
“Hope is the thing with feathers”
The Poem
• Hope
• Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
• And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
• I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Analysis of the Poem
• In the poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers”
Emily Dickinson creates an image of the feathers
of a bird to hope. She is also comparing our souls
to the nest of a bird, so the poem is a comparison
to a bird. Next she is saying that hope never goes
away, it is everlasting. The 5th line states that
hope is strongest during hard times, and keeps us
going through them. The next 3 lines say that the
people who destroy hope, the thing that
comforts most, are really hurting themselves.
The last four lines mean that hope is found all
around the world and it is free.
Analysis of the Poem cont.
• Emily Dickinson accomplishes her by using an overall
comparison of hope to a bird to help get a better
understanding of hope.
• She compares our souls to a nest or perch. She compares
the feathers that enable flight to hope that enables us to fly
or persevere. The birds song represents everlasting hope.
The storm represents a destroyer of hope (a person full of
negativity and tries to spread their negativity to others) and
the gale represents the problems we face.
• Personification- a living bird to non-living hope
• Metaphor- the gale to the hardships of life
• Symbolism- feathers to hope, feathers help a bird fly, hope
helps us persevere.
Picture of Hope
How the Image Relates to the Poem
• This image of a dove in the sky, symbolizes
hope. I chose this picture because a dove is
always associated with hope. It relates to the
poem in the fact that Emily Dickinson uses a
bird (the thing with feathers) as an image of
hope.
Any Questions?
The End
Dickinson Poem
Analysis
Katie Hatcher
“Nature” is what we see
By Emily Dickinson
"Nature" is what we see—
The Hill—the Afternoon—
Squirrel—Eclipse—the Bumble bee—
Nay—Nature is Heaven—
Nature is what we hear—
The Bobolink—the Sea—
Thunder—the Cricket—
Nay—Nature is Harmony—
Nature is what we know—
Yet have no art to say—
So impotent Our Wisdom is
To her Simplicity.
What does she mean?
To me, Dickinson is trying to convey that
nature itself is simple and peaceful. She is
saying that all of these simple, everyday
images and sounds come together to
create that overall simplicity. Little things
we overlook all the time, squirrels in the
front yard or the croon of the crickets at
dusk create the simple, peaceful
tranquility of Nature.
How does she accomplish her
meaning?
Dickinson capitalizes simple things we
sometime take for granted. It makes those
images and sounds stand out, to make
them more pronounced. She states that
“Nature is Heaven” and “Nature is
Harmony” and to me, that is peace. So it’s
peaceful, and it’s simple at the same time.
She states that no matter how smart we are
or how much Wisdom we have, it is nothing
compared to Nature’s simplicity.
What images does she use?
Dickinson uses many images in this poem. “The
Hill- the Afternoon-” For me, I can imagine a vast
prairie, with tall green grass blowing. And off in
the distance I see a hill, perhaps the small
children play on it, in the sunny summer
afternoon. “Squirrel-Eclipse-the Bumble bee-” I
can just see the squirrels scurrying around the
tree trunks, just a glimpse of an Eclipse, and the
annoying Bumble bee buzzing around my head.
So many images in this poem conjure up
pictures so vivid in my mind, despite the one
word she states for the image.
How does she use the images?
I think the last two lines of the poem could
be considered a paradox. “So impotent Our
Wisdom is -To her Simplicity” People would
find it contradictory, unless they read it more
carefully maybe they would come to a
different understanding of those two lines.
How does my image relate to
the poem?
The image I chose relates to the poem because
of its simple elegance. In the poem, Dickinson
says “The Hill” and “the Sea” in the image I
chose, it has green grass going down toward
the bank of a calm and tranquil lake. You can
see the breathtaking lavender tress off in the
distance, across the lake. The wide blue sky
above with clouds rolling by. When you first see
the image, it looks like simple nature. My point
being is that after you study it, you will see how
all of the things tie together to create the overall
theme of simplicity.
Further Analysis
Emily Dickinson was no doubt a Transcendentalist. I
can tell by her overall infatuation with Nature in this
poem alone. I’m sure that if I looked up other poems
by her it would show her beliefs or support of the
characteristics of the Romanticism Era. “Nature” is
what we see has an overall optimistic fell to it.
Dickinson was born in 1830, right in the middle of the
Romanticism Era. In her lifetime she had a secluded
life, cooped up in her house all the time. This aspect
of her life shows her “Distrust of Civilization”.
Works Cited
 Dickinson,
Emily. “Nature is what we see”
Poem Hunter. Web. 02 November
2011.

http://www.awaz-e-wah.com/wpcontent/uploads/2011/10/4.jpeg
Amber Allen
Honors English III
Block 4
November 3, 2011
 Pain
has an element of blank;
It cannot recollect
When it began, or if there were
A day when it was not.
It has no future but itself,
Its infinite realms contain
Its past, enlightened to perceive
New periods of pain.

I picked that image because it is a man looking out at
the ocean, a place with no definite beginning or
ending, which is what Dickinson says about pain.
Then when one is looking out at the ocean, it seems
like it is just infinite. The ocean is also somewhat
blank, it’s just the same thing after awhile on the
surface. Then the only thing it has to look forward to
is a new time of existing, which is like what Dickinson
says about pain in the whole last stanza of the poem. I
think that the photo I chose represents the poem
very well, just because of the way the colors and the
ocean work together to create a gloomy feel. Also the
way that the man is looking down, like he is just
waiting for something positive to happen.

In the poem, Dickinson means that pain is just an
ongoing process. It never had a definite
beginning, and it never ends. The only thing it
does is repeat itself time after time. She
describes pain with the word “blank”. She means
that pain itself has no definite feeling, only the
way pain makes a person feel. She also says that
pain is always present somewhere. Dickinson
uses a dreary tone, to create a gloomy mood. She
makes it seem like there is never a break in the
pain, and that life is all painful like when she says
“It cannot recollect when it began, or if there
were a day when it was not.” She also adds her
opinion of pain in the future, which just adds to
the whole overall thought of pain not ending.
Emily Dickinson
The Red -- Blaze -- is the Morning
The Red -- Blaze -- is the Morning
The Red -- Blaze -- is the Morning -The Violet -- is Noon -The Yellow -- Day -- is falling -And after that -- is none --
But Miles of Sparks -- at Evening -Reveal the Width that burned -The Territory Argent -- that
Never yet -- consumed --
Analysis
I believe that she is talking about something having to do with
the night sky. She named all the times of the day except night,
when there is nothing. Naming all of them except night got her
meaning across. She uses the images of all the times of day
having a color to go along with.