SWorld –
17-26 December 2013
http://www.sworld.com.ua/index.php/ru/conference/the-content-of-conferences/archives-of-individual-conferences/dec-2013
PERSPECTIVE INNOVATIONS IN SCIENCE, EDUCATION, PRODUCTION AND TRANSPORT ‘2013
Тезисы/ Языковедение и иностранные языки в современном мире
УДК 82-14
Волкова Е. В.
СЕМАНТИЧЕСКИЙ АНАЛИЗ СТИХОТВОРЕНИЯ ЭМИЛИ ДИКИНСОН
№ 214 “I TASTE A LIQUOR NEVER BREWED”
Санкт-Петербургский Гуманитарный университет профсоюзов
Санкт-Петербург, Фучика 15, 192238
UDC 82-14
Volkova E.V.
SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF EMILY DICKINSON’S POEM #214 “I TASTE A
LIQUOR NEVER BREWED”
St Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences,
St Petersburg, Fuchika 15, 192238
Аннотация. В работе анализируется поэтический язык Эмили Дикинсон
на примере стихотворения № 214, раскрываются авторские метафоры,
даётся их интерпретация.
Ключевые слова: метафора, семантический анализ, символ.
Abstract. In this paper we provide the semantic analysis of Emily Dickinson’s
poetic language in the poem #214, interpreting the author’s metaphors and symbols.
Key words: metaphor, semantic analysis, symbol.
Emily Dickinson is one of the most important American poets. She is famous for
the
extensive
use
of
dashes
and unconventional
capitalization,
the idiosyncratic vocabulary and imagery.
We all know what life Emily Dickinson had, and after reading “I taste a liquor
never brewed” (# 214) we all learn how much she loved it. This poem reveals the
poet’s love to Life line after line.
I taste a liquor never brewed –
From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
Not all the Vats upon the Rhine
Yield such an Alcohol!
Inebriate of Air – am I –
And Debauchee of Dew –
Reeling – thro endless summer days –
From inns of Molten Blue –
When "Landlords" turn the drunken Bee
Out of the Foxglove's door –
When Butterflies – renounce their "drams" –
I shall but drink the more!
Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats –
And Saints – to windows run –
To see the little Tippler
Leaning against the – Sun –
The first line of the first stanza “I taste a liquor never brewed” tells us that this
“liquor” is a metaphor as it’s never been really brewed, but the metaphor of what?
The second stanza reveals the truth: being “Inebriate of Air” and “Debauchee of
Dew” means being in love with earthly life. The existence is the best thing we’ve
ever tried and are able to try. Emily Dickinson uses the metaphor of inebriation to
show the happiness of living. That’s why she compares this to the best beer ever – the
German one – in the last lines of the first stanza. Here we can see a very important
symbol – Pearl, that is the symbol of Harmony and at the same time it symbolizes
gates to Heaven (Revelations 21:21 "And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each
one of the gates was a single pearl.") It’s the first reference to Heaven in the poem but
not the last. When the poet talks about “Molten Blue” she means the sky.
The “Landlords” in the third stanza could denote the so called “masters of life”
who think that only their lifestyle is correct and should be followed by everyone.
That’s why they are so cruel to the Bee and can even turn it out of the Foxglove’s
door. The Bee – the metaphoric author – is a lonely creature (because the butterflies
which she also mentions are - being also insects – different ones, not of the same
species) who gathers nectar (the drink of The Twelve Olympians by the way) and
who could be really happy inside the Foxglove where she could not only drink but
also sleep at night. The Foxglove is a symbol itself. The thing is that at night the
temperature inside its flowers is much higher than outside, that’s why some insects
spend their nights inside. And the poet says that even being turned out of Home she
will continue loving life. One more symbolic word in the third stanza is “renounce”.
It refers to Renunciation of Peter (remember Emily Dickinson’s poem
“Renunciation” referring to Christ’s death).
In the fourth stanza the poet tells us that she will love this Life until the time to
die comes. Seraphs and Saints are those who will meet her in front of the Heavens
door. The Tippler will lean against the Sun – as it will happen in the sky.
The whole poem keeps you feeling summer heat which is also a metaphor of the
middle of life and the climax of life at the same time as summer is usually the time of
flourishing. Emily Dickinson questions whether Heaven is really better than our
earthly life and makes us think that she tends not to believe in that.
Литература:
1. Franklin, R. W. (ed). The Poems of Emily Dickinson. – Сambridge: Belknap
Press, 1999. – 696 с.
2. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. – OUP, 2005. – 1907 c.
Статья отправлена: 06.11.2013г.
© Волкова Е.В.