As Imperceptibly as Grief - analysis

Question 1

‘Imperceptibly as Grief’

Answer 1

‘Imperceptibly’ - word suggests no-one notices the speaker’s pain and grief because it has happened so gradually
‘grief’ - suggests the pain in unbearable and overwhelming. grief is seen to be life-changing

Question 2

‘summer lapsed away’

Answer 2

‘summer’ - imagery represents happiness and peak time in life
‘lapsed’ - verb represent time is passing and speaker thinking death is approaching

poet notices summer has ended, it is inevitable, and natural

Question 3

‘perfidy’

Answer 3

suggests Dickinson doesn’t trust time and feels almost trickled how quickly time/happiness is taken away

Question 4

‘twilight long begun’

Answer 4

‘twilight’ - image suggests speaker is trapped between /dark/depressed and light/happiness
‘long begun’ - shows melancholic tone of darkness taking over happiness

Question 5

‘Dusk drew earlier in’

Answer 5

‘dusk’ coming earlier every day suggests light is leaving her life
word ‘dusk’ suggests speaker feels darkness drawing in closer and she feels the light is growing shorter each day
technique - plosive alliteration of ‘D’ shows surprise and realisation

Question 6

‘morning foreign shone’

Answer 6

‘foreign’ - offers light and hope. it is unrecognisable and not normal

Question 7

‘harrowing grace’

Answer 7

phrases suggests everything that should be gentle and kind to her seems painful and frightening

oxymoron shows spiritual confusion; moving on from grief both a blessing and upsetting

Question 8

‘guest’

Answer 8

summer/grief is personified as a contradictory visitor trying to leave your company politely

Question 9

‘without a wing….of a keel’

Answer 9

• suggest speaker feels like she is unstable and trapped. speaker craves freedom but can’t see any escape
• maybe it means she feels unstable and lost due to her mum no longer being around. she feels as though she has lost her support or maybe she misses being able to support her mum and be there for her

Question 10

‘courteous’

Answer 10

reminds us end of grief is gentle and kind which links to ‘perfidy’ no intentional pain but reader feels mixed up

Question 11

‘light’

Answer 11

• grief makes you feel unstable like a wingless bird or keel-less boat but grief will eventually turn into something positive
• word ‘light’ could suggest speaker has finally accepted that time passes and that they will have to face death

Question 12

‘beautiful’

Answer 12

poem ends positively by Dickinson using word ‘beautiful’ could imply she is now ready to move on to heaven