Emily Dickinson’s Poems
Examine some poems to underline the religious concepts in Dickinson’s work.
Before reading Dickinson’s work, first examine a quick way to decipher the literal, basic meaning of a poem. We call
it TSPAT:
Title: Read the TITLE of the work first and, based on title, predict the work’s literal
summary.
Read the poem all the way through and answer these questions:
Speaker: Who is speaking in this poem and how do you know?
Paraphrase: In your own words, write the literal meaning of the poem, in 1—2
sentences; what actually happened ?
Attitude: What is the attitude or mood of the poem, based on your first reading?
Title: Look at the title again. What other significance does it take on, now that you read
the entire poem and examined it?
WHOLE CLASS WORK:
Read the below poem, “A bird came down to walk,” and use the TSPAT method.
1.
Title: Based on the title, what can we predict about the poem’s literal summary?
Now read the poem together and later answer the rest of TSPAT.
“A bird came down to walk”
A bird came down to walk: 1
He did not know I saw; 2
He bit an angle worm in halves 3
And ate the fellow, raw. 4
And then he drank a dew 5
From a convenient grass, 6
And then hopped sidewise to the wall 7
To let the beetle pass. 8
He glanced with rapid eyes 9
That hurried all abroad— 10
They looked like frightened beads, I thought; 11
He stirred his velvet head 12
Like one in danger; cautious, 13
I offered him a crumb, 14
And he unrolled his feathers 15
And rowed him softer home 16
Than oars divide the ocean, 17
Too silver for a seam 18
Or butterflies, off banks of noon, 19
Leap, splashless, as they swim. 20
Speaker (Who is it?):
Paraphrase:
Attitude:
Title:
MORE WHOLE CLASS WORK:
1. Now that you should have discovered the literal meaning of the work, examine the symbolic message.
2. Notice the chart below, and all its columns.
3. Read the poem again, and identify the symbols that might appear, discuss possible meanings for them in column two,
and then reach some message about God in column three. When you finish, answer the question below the chart.
COLUMN ONE:
Objects, animals that are symbols
AND
What the symbol does in the poem.
COLUMN TWO:
Ideas, emotions, traits, entities these
objects/animals represent
(What traits do you normally associate
with these objects?)
COLUMN THREE:
What might this symbol say about God?
(How does this symbol change/remain
the same from the previous stanzas?)
1. So far, let’s look at column three, and combine responses to answer: What is the message about God, using these
symbols?
Answer the questions below that ask you to summarize each stanza and reach a conclusion about the poem’s religious
message. Pay close attention to the last question, where you might use biographical notes to help you.
1. For each stanza below, write the general message about God that Dickinson might try to communicate:
Stanza II (lines 9—12): What major symbol do you find in this stanza? What is the deeper meaning about God
here?
Stanza III (lines 13—16): What major symbol do you find in this stanza? What is the deeper meaning about
God here?
Stanza IV (lines 17—20): What major symbol do you find in this stanza? What is the deeper meaning about
God here?
2. Review the first two stanzas we examined in class, and the deeper meaning we concluded about it (column
three). Now look at all your conclusions about the remaining stanzas, from lines 9—20. Together, write 1—2
sentences that you think summarizes the deeper meaning of the poem as accurately as possible.
3. Where is there a contradiction in this message? How does this contradiction reflect her religious views?
Dickinson & sound
Since Dickinson lived religiously, her poetry’s rhythm often mimics the patterns of religious church-service hymns (the only
music she could listen to). You might notice a ‘nursery rhyme’ type of style to her work, which comes from church hymns. She
creates it through using stressed syllables in a particular pattern. (‘Stressed’ means you put more emphasis on some syllables
more than others.)
Practice ‘stressing:’
*Here’s one word. Say it aloud: alone
*Which syllable do you NOT stress?
Which syllable do you stress?
(So if you were to write it, you might write unstressed syllables appearing in lower case with stressed in capitals):
*How do you know if they’re stressed or unstressed? Put your hand under your chin—so close, but don’t let your hand touch.
When you say the syllable, if your chin touches your hand, you stressed the syllable; if not, the syllable is unstressed.
Try the next two; say them and then try writing them with unstressed syllables appearing in lower case while stressed ones
appear in capitals:
friday:
money:
a baby:
Dickinson uses the iamb stress pattern:
*an iamb is a unit of sound equaling two syllables, with the first one unstressed and the second syllable stressed.
*Example (unstressed syllables appear in lower case while stressed ones appear in capitals):
a TOY
toNIGHT
*iambs are scattered throughout Dickinson’s poems (but not necessarily one after the other). Having a majority of them in a
poem gives them a sing-song rhythm, similar to a hymn.
*To also mimic hymns, Dickinson limits each of her lines to 6 or 8 syllables (3 to 4 iambs), so they are very short: “He fumbles
at your spirit” is one line with seven syllables.
*Her lines also sometimes have alternate rhyming, where every-other line rhymes: “He fumbles at your spirit/As players at the
KEYS/before they drop full music on/He stuns you by DEGREES.”
Where are the iambs in this poem?
Together: Let’s re-read the first stanza. Circle all the stressed syllables in each line. Then, look for iambs: if you find a stressed
syllable and an unstressed one appears before it, you probably have it. Tell us where they are.
By yourself: Read the next stanza only. As before, circle the stressed syllables and try to find the iambs. Tell us.
Write an Emily Dickinson poem (sort of)
1. Dickinson wrote about God, but you don’t have to write something that heavy. Make a list of 5—10 ideas or items that
you would love to complain about, in a way that Dickinson complained about God. (You can even knock Ms. E for all
these handouts she gives you. Use the space below.) (Ex: not getting sleep)
2.Choose one of these items to focus your brief poem. Then write down 2—3 objects, animals, things of nature (etc.) that
could symbolize this complaint. (Ex: not getting sleep—pen running out of ink)
3.For 3—5 minutes, free-write about this image that takes on your complaint. (Use loose-leaf or this handout.) Just keep
your pen moving for that time, so you get ideas on paper. Answer these questions: What happens when this object/animal
operates? How or why does this symbol represent your feelings or predicament?
When you finish, circle any lines in your free-write that you find interesting, that you might want to use and/or alter for a
poem.
4.Try writing 8—12 short lines that let you complain about whatever topic you chose, using this symbol you examined in
the previous free-write. You can mention the actual topic in your poem, but try to keep your symbol in it. Also:
*Write the lines short, in 6—8 syllables each (you don’t have to use iambs, but you can if you’re feeling adventurous)
*Try to write an alternate rhyming pattern, like Dickinson, although your poem doesn’t have to rhyme
*If you’re stuck, begin with the line ‘I saw’ and then finish with your symbol
You don’t have to be an actual Dickinson for this assignment; just get something down and follow these guidelines.
What’s the point of all this? Sit in Dickinson’s chair so you get a sense of how she wrote.
Here’s a poem from a student a few years ago:
I saw a pen run out of ink;
It lie alone on a desk.
It reminds me of the way I look
When I get low on rest.
It looked empty, with no blessed life,
Seeing it, to me, did sting,
And then I realized, with lack of sleep,
I look worse than this thing.
So what can I do; I need my sleep!
Just like this pen needs life.
Perhaps I should just give up school;
That might save me some strife.
What is the symbol here?
Does the rhyme pattern (alternate rhyming) resemble Dickinson’s rhyming pattern? Why do you think so? Say the first 1
or 2 stanzas aloud to yourself again. Which lines in the first stanza rhyme?
Even if she never intended on it, find 1—2 iambs in the piece. How does this iamb add to the rhythm of the poem? “
Overall, how close does this come to sounding like Dickinson? List 2—3 reasons why you answer this way.