Emily Dickinson—Study Questions
Answer at least two from each set of questions.
“I Never Saw a Moor” (packet) (choose two)
1. The first stanza deals with something that is “known” without having been seen--as we might “know
what a desert or jungle looks like from pictures or descriptions. In what way is the knowledge
presented in the second stanza different from that of the first stanza?
2. How does the editors’ substitution of the word “chart” (meaning map) for Dickinson’s word “checks”
change the poet’s meaning?
3. What emphasis is gained in the original version by the use of the dash and by the unusual capitalization
of words?
4. What is the effect of substituting “wave” for “billow?”
“Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church” (#236) (choose two)
1. In lines 3-4, what aspects of a church are transferred to nature?
2. The second stanza states that “some” (ministers) wear special robes for church, but the poet just wears
her “wings.” What does “wings” stand for?
3. What does Dickinson mean by the final two lines of the poem?
4. Dickinson presents the serious matter of her religious worship in a playful, informal manner. What
examples do you find of her light tone?
“Because I could not stop for death” (#479) (choose three)
1. What does the opening line of this work suggest about life and about the lifestyle of the speaker?
2. Death is personified as "He." After reading the first three stanzas, describe the image you get of death as
it comes from the speaker.
3. The image of LIFE is presented in stanza 3 in various ways. What word pictures are given to make this
presentation?
4. Where/when does DEATH occur in this poem? Look for the change in diction that suggests this
occurrence. List words that demonstrate a change of feeling on the reader's part.
5. Define "gossamer," "tulle" - How are they related to "grown" and "tippet" respectively?
6. In what terms is the grave described? Why is this so?
7. What point does the speaker make about TIME in the last stanza?
8. Describe/Define the speaker (AFTER you have read the full poem).
“The Bustle in a House (#1108) (do both)
1. What might this “bustle” in the house be?
2. What does Dickinson suggest we (must?) do after a death?
“Success is counted sweetest” (#112) (choose two)
1. What do the first two lines mean?
2. Who can’t define Victory, according to Dickinson?
3. What is the agony of the dying in this poem?
4. What is the symbolic significance of the color purple?
Questions Whitman—Study Questions
“The Noiseless Patient Spider” (packet), “Song of Myself” (1011+), “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”
(1067), “Beat! Beat! Drums!” (1067), “The Wound Dresser” (1069), “Come Up from the Fields, Father”
“The Noiseless Patient Spider” (choose two)
1. In Line 3 what surrounds the spider? In line six, what are the “measureless oceans of space” which surround the
speaker’s soul?
2. Why does the spider “tirelessly” spin out filament? How is the speaker’s soul similar to the spider?
3. Whitman was friendly with both Emerson and Thoreau. What specific phrases in the poem remind you of the
Transcendentalists? What aspects of Transcendentalism do they remind you of?
“Song of Myself” (choose two)
1. The opening section of “Song of Myself” celebrates the poet’s individuality or self. How do these lines make it
clear that this self is also representative and universal, sharing its being with all others?
2. In “Nature,” Emerson said that the present generation should enjoy an original relationship with the universe,
treating life as a still-untried experiment and seeing nature with fresh sight rather than through the eyes of
those who lived before us. How do lines 10-13 reflect this theme?
3. In section 6, the poet states that “the smallest sprout shows there really is no death.” What is the poet suggesting?
4. What is unusual about section 15? What does Whitman suggest here and in the last lines? (327-29)
“When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” (choose one)
1. What is the speaker’s reaction to the lecture? What does this reaction reveal about his character?
2. In what ways does the “perfect silence” of the last line contrast with the lecture. What is the speaker saying about
the value of science versus personal experience of nature?
“Beat! Beat! Drums!” (choose two)
1. What drums are beating? What is the title referring to?
2. To whom are the drums calling? Identify specific examples.
3. What do you think is the tone, the purpose of this poem? Might there be two views?
“The Wound-Dresser” (choose two)
1. What are various tones found in this poem? Refer to sections.
2. How does this compare or contrast to “Beat! Beat! Drums!”?
3. How is does this poem indicate a transition from transcendentalist to realist thinking?
“Come up from the Fields, Father”
1. What is the mood of the poem as it opens? What is the season? What might be Whitrman’s purpose in opening
the poem the way he does?
2. Who might be the narrator of this poem? From what vantage point is this poem/scene being told?
“O Captain! My Captain!”
1. What seems to be the purpose and the mood/tone of this poem? Cite a few examples to support a claim.
2. Why might this poem rhyme when Whitman so often employs free verse?