Name
Emily Dickinson
Poetry Analysis
English 11
“Much Madness is divinest Sense”
1. This poem presents two sides of
a paradox: that insanity is good
sense and that good sense is
insane. How do the words
“discerning” and “majority”
help readers understand the
truth beneath the paradox?
2. How do we know that the
speaker does not believe that
the majority is correct?
3. How do the last five lines
extend the subject beyond a
contrast between sanity and
insanity? In other words, which
words and images used in these
lines let us know that there’s
more to this poem than sanity
vs. insanity?
“Wild Nights – Wild Nights”
1. How does repetition contribute
to meaning in this poem? In
other words, what words or
phrases are repeated, and what
does their repetition
communicate to the reader?
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2. What does the image of the
Garden of Eden imply at the
end of the poem?
“A narrow Fellow in the Grass”
1. What kind of meter does this
poem have?
2. Do Dickinson’s other poems
have a similar meter?
3. Who or what is the “narrow
Fellow” and which words
helped you figure this out?
4. List the metaphors the speaker
uses to describe the “narrow
Fellow.”
5. What do these metaphors imply
about the speaker’s feelings
about the “narrow Fellow”?
How do they do this?
6. What characterization of nature
is portrayed in this poem?
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“Because I could not stop for Death”
Vocabulary:
gossamer - any thin, light fabric.
tippet – shoulder cape
1. An allegory is a story with a
second meaning beneath the
surface. For example, this poem
is not really about a carriage
ride – what is it really about?
2. Explain what each of the
different locations mentioned in
the third stanza represent.
3. Explain the irony of “kindly”
(2) and “civility” (8).
4. As what is Death personified?
5. What is the “house” (17)?
6. What theme does this poem
communicate about death?
tulle - a thin, fine, machine-made net of acetate, nylon,
rayon, or silk.
surmised – inferred; guessed
Name
“I heard a Fly buzz when I died”
1. What event is about to happen
in this poem? How has the
speaker prepared for this event?
2. What or who are the “eyes” and
the “breaths” in lines 5-6?
3. What does the reader expect to
happen based on phrases like
“last onset” (7), “the King (7),
and “be witnessed” (8)? Think
about who the “King” is
supposed to be.
4. Explain what these mean: “the
windows failed” (15) and “I
could not see to see” (16).
5. Explain what is communicated
in line 13 through both imagery
and sound.
6. Clearly the fly is an important
symbol based on how many
times it is mentioned. Consider
what flies are associated with.
What does it mean that the fly is
the only sign of life at the end
of the poem? How do you
interpret the fly?
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