As Imperceptibly As Grief Flashcards
Over view of the poem
“As imperceptibly as grief” is a deceptively simple meditation on the nature of time, written by Emily Dickinson. It compares grief to summer, suggesting that people don’t always notice the way that everything undergoes gradual change—but that nothing in life stays still, and death always lurks in the background. As with most of Dickinson’s roughly 1800 poems, this one was not published during her lifetime. The poem contains all of Dickinson’s most notable traits - a sense of transition; and a deep questioning of what it means to be alive.
Meaning of the title “as imperceptibly as grief”
Imperceptibly - slight/sublte, hardly noticable.
Grief goes unnoticed,
Who wrote it
Emily Dickinson
What year was it written in
1800
How did emily dickinson live
Lived as a recluse. Stayed inside.
What did dicjinson live across form
Live across a grave yard where her friends were buried
Dickinsons education
Well educated and enjoyed reading
“As imperceptable……..”
Forst line
“As imperceptable as grief”
“Summer……away”
Line 2
“Summer lapsed away”
“Our summer……”
Line 15
“Our summer made her light escape”
What is the first line of th poem
“As imperceptible aas grief”
What is the last last of thr poem
“Our summer made her light escape/
Into thr beautiful.”
Analyse - “as imperceptable as grief”
First line
Simile and direct link to the tital.
Adjectibe “imperceptable” shows that something is subtle and hardlt noticable. Therefore, her griefe is hardly noticable, implying she may be used to it.
Analyse - “summer lapsed away”
Line 2
Time passing. End of season. Dickens observing time passing outside her window.
Blishes the link between summer and grief in the first two lines.
Analyse - “too imperceptible at last”
Line 3
Emphasises they way both summer and grief slip away
Analyse - “a quietnes distilled” and “sequestered afternoon”
Line 5/7
Associated with the sence of stillness ans being cosed of from the world.
Link to emily dickinson who spend many days issolated withing her bedroom looking ober the grave where her friends were beried.
Analyse - “dusk draw earlier”
Line 9
Aliteration , shows repetitiveness
Cyclical imagery nature of the time. Life and death are part of the nature cycle.
Just like the sun rises and sets
Analyse - “morning foreign shone”
Line 10
Summmer and “morningl symbolises the end of grief but the fact that is is forein shows that it feels strange for griefe to leave becuase it feels umfamilier.
Analyse - “harrowing grace
Line 11
Oxymoron
Something you expect to be pleasing can be quite unsettling
Analyse - “as guest that would be gone”
Line 12
Personification
Moringing is like a guest who wants to leave. Everything must come to an end, even if we dont want it too.
Also shown through “thus, without a wing” - summer and griefe will leave us mysteriously when we dont expect it.
Analyse - “our summer made her light escape/ into the beautiful”
Last lines of the poem
“Our” is first person and plural, included the reeder, the feeling of end is universla.
“Her” is personification, summer is an extended mataphor for what happens to the speakers grief.
“Beautifull is an adjective, the end of grief is altermatily positive.
What do the short line in the poem suggets (structure)
It goves the poem a sense of simplicity. This suggests a level of acceeptance in the speakers part.
“Begun” and “afternoon” are only half-rhyme.
This suggests the speaker isnt fully at peace with her feelings
Poem ends with a full stop
Reflects finality of the summer.
The last four lines have less punctuation showing more dicisive tone.
What does the single stanza show
Series of natural metaphor , grief gets easier, greafe fades -singke stanza shows gradual change
What does the rhythm mirror
Mirrors the pattern of everyday speech, makign it sound like the narrators thought.
Dash may show her layering her thoughts
How many stanzas does it contain
1 stanza (16 lines)
