As Imperceptibly as Grief Flashcards
Who is the author of As Imperceptibly as Grief?
Emily Dickinson
Summarise the poem
- Describes how the summer comes to an end so gradually that you don’t realise that it has ended
- The end of the summer represents the end of grief, of which the process ends to subtly that it creates another sense of loss
What is the key message of the poem?
People don’t always notice the way everything undergoes gradual change, even as nothing in life stays still and death is always lurking in the background
What are the key themes of the poem?
Time
Time passing
Grief
Nostalgia
Nature
Death
Describe the form and its effect
- Rhythm mimics the pattern of everyday speech
- One stanza of one sentence
- Hyphens creating pauses and giving the poem a tone of melancholy reflection
- Disjointed nature
→ could reflect her own thoughts
→ ideas feel confused and mixed
What is the effect of the rhythm?
→ narrator’s honest thoughts
→ long dashes } representative of her mental state or pausing because she has to process her feelings
→ long pauses
Describe the structure of the poem and its effect on it
Series of metaphors that reveal the persona’s feelings about the way that summer fades away gradually
→ compares it to the end of twilight, a stolen afternoon, disk, wingless bird, boat without a keel
→ mixed metaphor shows how difficult it is for her to come to terms with her feelings
What is the shift in tone that occurs during the poem and what could it signify?
Speaker’s tone becomes more decisive as the poem ends
→ acceptance
Single stanza
→ gradual change
After line 7, traces of positivity enter her words
→ she is starting to accept that she will die one day
→ shows the journey towards acceptance: once you accept, you will be free
Describe the language within the poem and its effect
- Language of time
→ different stages of time may reflect the different stages of grief - Contradictory images
→ shows pain of loss vs hope for future - Imagery of light and dark
→ reminder that the cycle of light and day is inevitable and will continue forever
→ could be applied to other natural cycles such as life and death
What is the context behind Emily Dickinson?
- Recluse
- Never married, main way of correspondence would be letters
- Didn’t ever leave her room
- Unconventional writing style with open ended ideas
- Her bedroom faced the family graveyard + many of them passed before she did
What are the symbols used in the poem and what do they represent?
Fading light: transitional; usually the one between day and night
→ representative of the poem’s main message, that all things are , in the passage of time, in transition
Light is also the marker of seasons: different seasons have different amounts of light available during them
→ therefore, light is not only transitional, but is also used to measure transition
Light is so integral to human nature, yet it is a mysterious and intangible element of human existence
Complete the quote
‘As Imperceptibly…
…as Grief’
Analyse the quote
As Imperceptibly as Grief
→ ‘imperceptibly’ : gradual, unnoticed process
→ feels betrayed by the end of summer
→ could also imply that she is numb with grief
→ feels it will never go away
→ numbness and sadness is reflected through the blank verse of the poem
→ unusual in her era, just like her experiences with grief → personal
→ ‘grief’ and ‘imperceptibly’ capitalised, which further emphasises this link
Complete the quote
‘Summer…
…lapsed away’
\
Analyse the quote
‘the Summer lapsed away’
→ ‘the’ gives ‘summer’ importance + makes it sound unique
→ she would never get this happiness again
→ symbolises the cyclical nature of grief, through comparing it to seasons
→ perhaps she shuns light (happiness) away
→ slipping out of control
→ ‘lapsed’ fast action, contrasts ‘imperceptible’
→ loss of summer too fast
