Name:_______________________________________________ Date:__________________________ Period:_________
“Heart! We will forget him!” (handout)
1. What incident does Dickinson portray in this poem? (Hint: What is the struggle?)
2. Why do you think the heart is asked to take the lead in this situation?
“Much Madness is divinest Sense” (pg. 754)
3. What is the argument of this poem? (What is this poem trying to prove?)
4. What might Dickinson have been feeling when she wrote this poem? Why do you think she felt this way?
5. What kinds of people might take this poem as a personal “anthem”? Does anything in this poem reflect ideas you have had about yourself? Explain.
“I’m Nobody! Who are you? (handout)
6. Why do you think Emily Dickinson wrote this poem? What is the purpose? (Don’t just go for the obvious answer!
Remember this poem might mean different things to different people!)
7. What is the tone of the poem? What emotions do you associate with it and why?
8. How does this poem support the idea the Emily Dickinson was perfectly happy being a recluse?

9. What do you think is significant about her use of punctuation and capitalization? (Hint: Why are certain words capitalized and is any punctuation surprising to you?)
“This is my letter to the World” (pg. 751)
10. Dickinson sees her poem as her “letter to the World.” Based on your reading of the poem, what can you infer about the message she wants to share with others?
11. What is she asking in her letter? Why do you think she asks this?
“Success is counted sweetest” (pg. 753)
12. What is Dickinson’s view of success? Do you agree or disagree with her view? Why or why not?
13. In this poem, Dickinson uses the image of a battlefield to make her point. Why might the defeated soldier be better able to appreciate victory than a winning soldier?
“Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” (handout)
14. How would you define the word slant as it is used in line 1? Is telling something “slant” different from lying? Explain.
15. What metaphor is implied in line 7? What is the “Truth” being compared to?
16. According to the last two line, why must the truth be told “slant”?
17. Do you agree with Dickinson’s idea about telling the truth? Explain why or why not.

“Some keep the Sabbath going to Church” (handout)
18. In what ways does the speaker keep the Sabbath?
19. What is the speaker’s relationship to nature?
20. What do you think the speaker means in the last line when she says, “I’m going, all along”?
“I died for Beauty—but was scarce” (handout)
21. What is the situation described in the first stanza? What do the two speakers have in common that allows one of them to claim they are “Brethren”—that is, brothers?
22. What do you think Dickinson’s message is concerning beauty and truth? Would you say it is optimistic or pessimistic?
“Because I could not stop for Death” (pg. 759)
23. How is Death personified in this poem? If you were going to personify Death, would Death be described like it is in this poem? Why or why not?
24. Look at the first stanza. What has happened to the speaker? What three things does Death’s carriage hold?
25. Do you think the concluding stanza introduces a tone of terror, because the speaker has suddenly realized she will ride on forever, conscious of being dead? Or is the poem really an expression of trust and triumph? Explain your response.

Directions: Choose four of the theme topics given to you on your Emily Dickinson Biography notes. Then choose four different poems. Write a theme statement for EACH theme topic and poem.
26. Poem:
Theme topic:
Theme statement:
27. Poem:
Theme topic:
Theme statement:
28. Poem:
Theme topic:
Theme statement:
29. Poem:
Theme topic:
Theme statement:
30. Poem:
Theme topic:
Theme statement:

“Heart! We will forget him!”
Heart! we will forget him!
You and I—tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave—
I will forget the light!
When you have done, pray tell me
That I may straight begin!
Haste! lest while you're lagging
I remember him!
“Much Madness is divinest Sense”
Much Madness is divinest Sense
To a discerning Eye--
Much Sense—the starkest Madness—
’Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail—
Assent—and you are sane—
Demur—you ’re straightway dangerous—
And handled with a chain—
“I'm Nobody! Who are you?”
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you -- Nobody -- Too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Don't tell! they'd advertise -- you know!
How dreary -- to be -- Somebody!
How public -- like a Frog --
To tell one's name -- the livelong June --
To an admiring Bog!
“Tell all the Truth, but tell it slant”
Tell all the truth but tell it slant—
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind—
“Some keep the Sabbath going to Church”
Some keep the Sabbath going to Church—
I keep it, staying at Home—
With a Bobolink for a Chorister—
And an Orchard, for a Dome—
Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice—
I just wear my Wings—
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton—sings.
God preaches, a noted Clergyman—
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last—
I’m going all along.
“I died for Beauty, but was scarce”
I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.
He questioned softly why I failed?
"For beauty," I replied.
"And I for truth,--the two are one;
We brethren are," he said.
And so, as kinsmen met a night,
We talked between the rooms.
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.