Student's Name: Student's Number:3107109029 Instructor’s Name:何艳 Course Name:英美名诗赏析 Date:4 June 2013 The Experience of Reading Emily Dickinson's Poems After reading 5 poems of Emily Dickinson's,the most direct impression they leave me is the unique way the poet writes poems,including rhymes and punctuations, and the private feelings she conveys to us through poems.Dickinson's poetry was her own beautiful diary,her way of identifying the different aspects of her thoughts.I think they come from her own discovery of common life.I like her original thoughts of life and vivid description of nature. In these 5 poems,there are many slant rhymes and the dash is used as a tool to signify a pause or provide emphasis.For instance,in "I cannot live without you",the line "You there-I-here"we can see how the dashes work to hold the words,and ideas,of"you"and"I"apart.Dickinson's poems are not orderly structured ones,but I think dashes and slant rhymes somehow make the poem more natural and unaffected.These 2 features reflect her unique style of creating a poem.She separates herself from poets who write for an audience by writing mostly for herself in her untraditional way,which makes her poems more like her own diary,recording her feelings and discoveries. In Dickinson's poems,she expresses to us her original thoughts of life.In "Much madness is divinest sense---",the poet tells us that madness is acceptable and divinest.I think the last three lines "Assent and you are sane -/Demur -you're straightaway dangerous-/And handled with a Chain-"represent the regulations of the society,which the poet wants everyone to get to rid of.And the view the poet conveys to me is that the madness here means the courage and people need it to free themselves to challenge the authority."I cannot live without you",this poem seems designed to argue against love.The poem can be broken down into five parts. The first explains why she cannot live with her love object,the second why she cannot die with him,the third why she cannot rise with him,the fourth why she cannot fall with him,and the final utterance of impossibility.I assume the poem may be her sudden feelings after going through something.We can't live with the object or person we love or we must keep distances from him.I think the Chinese saying "Distance brings about beauty"can best illustrate the viewpoint above.In "I dwell in possibility",there is a house with no roof but the sky.I have to admit I didn't quite understand the poem at first,so I refer to some materials on the Internet.Now I know that the poem is simply expressing the power of her poetry,which is what she sees as a"possibility".She compares her mind to a house saying hers is more open with more windows and bigger doors.She can make anything happen with her
Student’s Name: Student’s Number: 3107109029 Instructor’s Name: 何艳 Course Name: 英美名诗赏析 Date: 4 June 2013 The Experience of Reading Emily Dickinson’s Poems After reading 5 poems of Emily Dickinson’s, the most direct impression they leave me is the unique way the poet writes poems, including rhymes and punctuations, and the private feelings she conveys to us through poems. Dickinson’s poetry was her own beautiful diary, her way of identifying the different aspects of her thoughts. I think they come from her own discovery of common life. I like her original thoughts of life and vivid description of nature. In these 5 poems, there are many slant rhymes and the dash is used as a tool to signify a pause or provide emphasis. For instance, in “I cannot live without you”, the line "You there – I – here" we can see how the dashes work to hold the words, and ideas, of "you" and "I" apart. Dickinson’s poems are not orderly structured ones, but I think dashes and slant rhymes somehow make the poem more natural and unaffected. These 2 features reflect her unique style of creating a poem. She separates herself from poets who write for an audience by writing mostly for herself in her untraditional way, which makes her poems more like her own diary, recording her feelings and discoveries. In Dickinson’s poems, she expresses to us her original thoughts of life. In “Much madness is divinest sense---”, the poet tells us that madness is acceptable and divinest. I think the last three lines “Assent - and you are sane -/Demur - you`re straightaway dangerous -/And handled with a Chain –” represent the regulations of the society, which the poet wants everyone to get to rid of. And the view the poet conveys to me is that the madness here means the courage and people need it to free themselves to challenge the authority. “I cannot live without you”, this poem seems designed to argue against love. The poem can be broken down into five parts. The first explains why she cannot live with her love object, the second why she cannot die with him, the third why she cannot rise with him, the fourth why she cannot fall with him, and the final utterance of impossibility. I assume the poem may be her sudden feelings after going through something. We can’t live with the object or person we love or we must keep distances from him. I think the Chinese saying “Distance brings about beauty” can best illustrate the viewpoint above. In “I dwell in possibility”, there is a house with no roof but the sky. I have to admit I didn’t quite understand the poem at first, so I refer to some materials on the Internet. Now I know that the poem is simply expressing the power of her poetry, which is what she sees as a "possibility". She compares her mind to a house saying hers is more open with more windows and bigger doors. She can make anything happen with her
imagination and even gather paradise.In this way,we can learn the great power of mind and imagination. I also like Dickinson's vivid descriptions of nature in her poems.I think they are based on her careful observation of the world.Her main techniques are metaphor and a new and startling application of language,and both techniques result in powerful images.In "Dear March,come in",almost everything is personalized:March, April,birds,maples...So the speaker can have deeply affection with them.For example,in the line"Put down your Hat-/You must have walked-/How out of Breath you are -""March"seems fatigued after a long journey and the speaker shows great care for him.Personification makes the poem more vivid and attractive. In "There is another sky",the language used is charming and full of joy."In its unfading flowers/I hear the bright bee hum:/Prithee,my brother,/Into my garden come!",which describes that the poet invites her brother to enjoy the happiness in the beautiful garden with her.I think in this poem,Dickinson express her faith and optimism in the beauty of the nature.The descriptions of the 2 poems are both amazing and beautiful. In all,reading Dickinson's poems is never easy,but the process is very rewarding. Her style is unique and unconventional and her poems are just like her diary recording life and observations of nature.I like her vivid description of nature,which makes reading her nature poems a kind of enjoyment.And I appreciate her original thoughts of life because they convey a brand new view of life to me! The poems I chose:
imagination and even gather paradise. In this way, we can learn the great power of mind and imagination. I also like Dickinson’s vivid descriptions of nature in her poems. I think they are based on her careful observation of the world. Her main techniques are metaphor and a new and startling application of language, and both techniques result in powerful images. In "Dear March, come in", almost everything is personalized: March, April, birds, maples…So the speaker can have deeply affection with them. For example, in the line“Put down your Hat —/You must have walked —/How out of Breath you are —”, “March” seems fatigued after a long journey and the speaker shows great care for him. Personification makes the poem more vivid and attractive. In "There is another sky", the language used is charming and full of joy. "In its unfading flowers/I hear the bright bee hum:/Prithee, my brother, /Into my garden come!"，which describes that the poet invites her brother to enjoy the happiness in the beautiful garden with her. I think in this poem, Dickinson express her faith and optimism in the beauty of the nature. The descriptions of the 2 poems are both amazing and beautiful. In all, reading Dickinson’s poems is never easy, but the process is very rewarding. Her style is unique and unconventional and her poems are just like her diary recording life and observations of nature. I like her vivid description of nature, which makes reading her nature poems a kind of enjoyment. And I appreciate her original thoughts of life because they convey a brand new view of life to me! The poems I chose: