As imperceptibly as grief Flashcards
who wrote As imperceptibly as grief?
Emily Dickinson
why was Emily Dickinson famous?
she was known for never leaving her house
what is the significance of the final line?
describes a release or an “escape” into the “beautiful” which shifts the tone into something for positive as it implies she is going to heaven
meaning and context of Imperceptibly as grief?
-poem is simply describing the passing of summer into Autumn
-but “summer” is also a metaphor for her happiness and security. She is describing how this has left her. This is why she compares this time passing to “grief” in the first line/title.
-“imperceptibly” suggests that she feels as if her pain is invisible to others, or that her grief has crept up on her as unnoticed and she is now overwhelmed by it
How does Emily Dickinson use imagery of light and in what quote?
-“dusk drew earlier in”- creates a sense of darkness coming to get the narrator- highlights death- sense of light disappears and the narrator is unavoidably heading towards the dark (death)
how does Dickinson use contrast and in what quote?
“courteous yet harrowing grace”-represents goodness or a blessing
-narrator suggests that positive things that should be pleasant but actually regards them as traumatic
-contrast between kindness and how she actually feels about it highlights how vulnerable she feels
how does Dickinson use alliteration and in what quote?
“without a wing”- subtle alliteration suggests that summer and grief leave use mysteriously as their departure is a smoother transition than moving through air
-suggests she may feel unsafe and lack support
describe the form and structure of Imperceptibly as grief?
one long stanza-to perhaps imply a continuous stream of thought
-uses dashes to break up the poem- which creates a sense of an unstable disjointed state of mind
finish the quote “the summer….
lapsed away
analyse the quote “the summer lapsed away”
“summer”- symbolic of Dickinson’s happiness and positively about life
“lapsed”- implies that time is slipping away from her- establishes a melancholic tone
finish the quote “to seem like….
perfidy”
analyse the quote “to seem like perfidy”
narrator says that change has been too gradual to feel like a betrayal or “perfidy”. implies that she cannot complain, but still feels as if she has been tricked by now quickly time has passed and her happiness has left
finish the quote, “dusk drew…
earlier in”
analyse the quote “dusk drew earlier in”
dusk creates a sense of being in liminal space- caught between day and night. It implies the poetic voice trapped
-the phrase also suggests an inevitable progression into darkness. implies that she feels her depression or death is inevitable.
-as “dusk drew in earlier” underscores this, almost as if the darkness is coming to get her
finish the quote, “our summer made…
her light escape…
analyse the quote, “our summer made her light escape”
our- implies that the narrator perhaps does feel some connection to others, despite the feeling of isolation in the rest of the poem
-escape- implies a feeling of release, and a positive sense that she can transcend her difficulties
finish the quote, (last line of the poem) “into the….
beautiful’
analyse the quote, “into the beautiful”
beautiful- creates a positive ending for the poem. This implies that she feels her final destination is heaven
