Emily Dickinson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_D
ickinson
poems
•
"Heaven" has different Signs—to me—
Sometimes, I think that Noon
Is but a symbol of the Place—
And when again, at Dawn,
A mighty look runs round the World
And settles in the Hills—
An Awe if it should be like that
Upon the Ignorance steals—
The Orchard, when the Sun is on—
The Triumph of the Birds
When they together Victory make—
Some Carnivals of Clouds—
The Rapture of a finished Day—
Returning to the West—
All these—remind us of the place
That Men call "paradise"—
Itself be fairer—we suppose—
But how Ourself, shall be
Adorned, for a Superior Grace—
Not yet, our eyes can see—
•
Emily Dickinson
• Initial criticism of Dickinson's work, following the 1890 publication of
Poems of Emily Dickinson, was largely unfavorable, yet her work received
widespread popular acclaim. Willis Buckingham has noted that readers in
the 1890s often praised Dickinson's "inspired" thoughts and emotions
rather than her poetic technique. Modern critics, though, have come to
appreciate Dickinson's accomplishments in language and poetic structure.
Margaret Dickie has challenged critics who have attempted to provide a
narrative analysis of Dickinson's work by studying her poetry as a whole.
Dickie maintains that the poems were written as lyrics, and should be
examined as such. Karen Oakes has explored Dickinson's use of metonymy
to establish an intimate, feminine discourse with her readers. Other
critics, such as Judy Jo Small and Timothy Morris, have analyzed
Dickinson's rhyme structure, Small noting the acoustical effects of this
structure, and Morris observing how Dickinson's patterns of rhyme and
enjambment developed over time.
• Many critics have also explored the various themes of
Dickinson's poetry against the backdrop of events in her
personal life. Among these are Jane Donahue Eberwein,
who has studied the poems concerning love and its
redemption, and Nadean Bishop, who has focused on
Dickinson's spirituality, specifically the poems that seem to
indicate the poet's rejection of religious dogma in favor of a
private version of God and heaven. Paula Hendrickson, who
has examined Dickinson's poems that focus on the precise
moment of death, notes that these poems are typically
treated as a subcategory of the death poem genre and are
rarely treated individually.
• Power is another of Dickinson's themes that has received a great
deal of critical attention. R. McClure Smith has examined how
Dickinson uses the trope of seduction to explore her relationship to
patriarchal power. Feminist critics have also found the issue of
power of great significance in Dickinson's work. Cheryl Walker
maintains that while many feminist critics try to assert that
Dickinson's life was "a model of successful feminist manipulation of
circumstances," in fact, the poet was attracted to masculine forms
of power. Paula Bennett, on the other hand, has contended that
Dickinson's relationships with women were more significant than
her struggles with men, male power, or male tradition. Bennett
argues that Dickinson's relationship with women provided her with
the comfort and safety necessary for the poet to explore her own
sexuality. This contention, Bennett states, is supported by a reading
of Dickinson's poems that recognizes their homoeroticism and use
of clitoral imagery.
• The enigmatic details surrounding Dickinson's
life continue to fascinate readers and critics
alike. Yet it is the technical originality of her
poetry, the variety of themes she addressed,
and the range and depth of intellectual and
emotional experience she explored that have
established Dickinson's esteemed reputation
as an American poet.
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