As Imperceptibly As Grief - Emily Dickinson

Question 1

Passage of time - AIAG

Answer 1

“The summer lapsed away” “imperceptibly”. continuous yet unnoticable - each moment is insignificant yet contributes to something bigger than itself

Question 2

Monotony - AIAG

Answer 2

“Too imperceptible at last/To seem like Perfidy”
nothing deceitful or malicious about it though there seems like there should be - speaker cannot bring themselves to hate it
- personified and capitalised for emphasis

Question 3

Savouring the quietness - AIAG

Answer 3

“A Quietness distilled/As Twilight long begun” - acutely aware of a sense of pure stillness
Not a lot happening, speaker feels like a spectator in their own life - peaceful in a way, savouring the lengthening nights

Question 4

Inner peace - AIAG

Answer 4

“Nature spending with herself” - peace within oneself, nature is personified - links to ‘To Autumn’

Question 5

Discomfort - AIAG

Answer 5

“Dusk drew earlier in/The Morning Fury shone” - days are getting shorter so light (hope) seems unexpected/unusual. 3rd stanza brings discomfort, breaks lazy sense of peace

“harrowing Grace” juxtaposition - unnerving atmosphere. “would be gone”

Question 6

Betrayal - AIAG

Answer 6

“our summer made her light escape/Into the Beautiful”
speaker feels left behind in this dull/emotionless life. Moves away with grace, gently.
Contrasts ‘To Autumn’ where it is celebrated as a big event

Question 7

Context - AIAG

Answer 7

• Dickinson lived in isolation in her adult years due to loss of family members - depression
• Her poems often discuss death and nature
  -Her house’s window was overlooking a graveyard
• written around 1865, left unfinished/not in stanzas. Half rhymes on 2nd and 4th lines imply 4 4-line stanzas