'as imperceptibly as grief' - emily dickinson Flashcards
what is the context of this poem?
- writer obsessed with and afraid of death. when she was 13, her best friend died of typhus, which traumatised her
- her bedroom also overlooked a cemetery
- avid writer of letters, and a social recluse. in part caused by the requirement to act as a carer for her mother
- most of her poems were published after she died, suggesting that her writing is personal, as it wasn’t always intended for an audience
what are some important glossary words?
- Perfidy = deceit
- distilled = shortening something so much that only its essential meaning remains
- sequestered = isolated, hidden away
- harrowing = distressing
analyse the title:
foreshadows the theme of death ‘grief’, establishing its importance to the poem and creating a melancholic tone
analyse lines 1-4:
structure:
- dashes represent the persona’s fragile and unstable mind. the speaker of the poem cannot stay focused on one idea for too long, perhaps due to the weight of grief on their mind
language:
- some nouns are capitalised and almost personified ‘Summer’ ‘Grief’ ‘Perfidy’, suggesting that grief can make you mad, and letting you see things and ideas as people. capitalisation of nouns is also kind of religious - her grief makes her think of things in a deeper, more spiritual way
- everyday language for the time is used throughout, suggesting grief is a normal thing to experience
imagery:
- ‘as imperceptibly as grief/the summer lapsed away’ simile suggests that like summer passing, grief takes a long time to go away. simile is switched around, and ‘grief’ is placed first, suggesting it’s significant to the writer. suggesting grief is cyclical, as summer comes once every year
analyse lines 5-9:
structure:
- ‘begun’ and ‘afternoon’ imperfect half rhyme could represent the speaker’s imperfect feelings
language:
- ‘distilled’, ‘long begun’ suggests grief is intense and long-lasting
- ‘quietness’ ‘sequestered’ grief seems peaceful and comforting, due to its isolation
imagery:
- ‘as Twilight long begun’ time and passing of time imagery could suggest that death and therefore grief is inevitable. twilight is also a time of change, so could be hopeful (better things soon to come) or discouraging (could bring even more darkness)
- ‘or Nature spending with herself’ nature is personified as an isolated woman. Dickinson could be projecting herself/her feelings into the poem
analyse lines 10-14:
structure:
- this section contains the most dashes in the poem, representing the speaker’s increasingly fragmented thoughts. they panic as they realise time is moving on. the poem’s timeline seems more ambiguous - how much time is passing, and how quickly? the speaker has lost track of time in their grief
language:
- ‘foreign’ in ‘this morning foreign shone’ suggests that happiness is strange and unfamiliar to the persona, as their grief begins to fade. emphasised by ‘harrowing grace’ - something usually positive (‘grace’) has become unsettling/distressing. the speaker has been grieving for some time, and a change to this is a shock
imagery:
- ‘the dusk drew earlier in’ suggests that the passing of time is uncontrollable and can act in confusing ways. also highlights the inevitability of time passing, and therefore death and grief
- morning is personified as a guest who wants to leave in the quote ‘as guest, that would be gone’ reiterates that time must pass, no matter how much we want to dwell. time is more powerful than man
analyse lines 15-19:
structure:
- end-stopped final line, suggesting a sense of finality, symbolises acceptance and moving on
- no dashes in final four lines, suggesting that the speaker’s thoughts are collected and that their pain is over
language:
- ‘and thus’ logical, conclusive tone created, shift in mood. contemplative and metaphorical tone beforehand. the speaker has rationalised their grief and can move on
- ‘keel’ and ‘wing’ both cause movement. the summer and therefore the grief needs no assistance to pass, it’s natural
- ‘our’ plural possessive pronoun, makes the passing of grief a shared experience
- ‘light’ adjective suggests the escape is both light and easy and natural
- ‘into the beautiful’ positive tone ‘beautiful’. the passing of grief is something to celebrate
what does the poem mean?
compares the fading of summer to that of grief passing over time. grief is shown to be a raw, intense emotion that’s also quite isolating. as the grief/summer fades, a new start is welcomed in, which feels strange and foreign. summer/grief then fades away completely into, or leaves behind, the ‘beautiful’ which could suggest a positive feeling
what is the mood of the poem?
reflective and mournful tone. the mood then shifts towards the end of the poem, as signalled by ‘and thus’, and becomes positive
what is the writer’s motivation for the poem?
a known recluse, Dickinson has written a reflective, meditative poem about the nature of grief, a topic that fascinated her, given that her childhood bedroom overlooked a cemetery. she seems to embrace her grief in her writing, and appears to accept it, as it fades over time. the positive tone at the end could be seen as Dickinson celebrating the joy that can be felt due to the passing of grief
what are the themes in this poem?
- power (of grief)
- time (how grief passes slowly with time. extended metaphor of the passing of summer)
- man (human emotion, how we process loss)
- death (loss, feelings that can only be gained through losing someone)
