How The Old Mountains Drip With Sunset

Question 1

When was how the old mountains drip with sunset written

Answer 1

1861 poem 291

Question 2

What is the theme

Answer 2

Nature
Art

Question 3

What is the form

Answer 3

A lyric poem in third person causing detachment and amazement

Question 4

What is the structure

Answer 4

6 stanza poem in quatrains in tetrameter

Question 5

What is the tone

Answer 5

Amazement
Disbelief
Awe

Question 6

What are language techniques

Answer 6

• Anaphora providing a forward momentum for each sunset description but also conveys disbelief and awe as she quickly throws descriptions of a sunset
• symbolisation “how the hemlocks burn” to show colour of sunset

Question 7

Quick languages techniques (2)

Answer 7

• enjambment “with sunset how the hemlocks burn” showing the sunset flowing into the mountains. Also symbolisation of the colour of the sunset
• personification “how the dun brake is draped in cinder” showing that the sunset is covering everything
• “by the wizard sun” showing spirituality, it’s something godly to behold due to its magic
• Anaphora “how the” showing a loss of thought repeating how the sunset looks, struggling to describe it adequately enough
• alliteration “steeples hand the scarlet” linking sunset to the church and further showing the godly sunset
• “as a duchess passed” this symbolisation shows a regal closing scene of the sunset, these people are rare to see everyday showing how precious this scene is

Question 8

Quick languages techniques (3)

Answer 8

• Personification “how a small duck crawls on the village” showing how small and insignificant the nighttime now looks to the character
• Art reference “Till the houses blot” the houses are covering the sunset, after using colour imagery to create the scene she now uses art references to describe it.
• “no men carry” man made things that men create cannot in anyway compare to the sunset
• art allusions to “guido, Titan and Domenichino” showing that even artists can’t replicate the beauty she’s witnessed.
• “domenichino dropped his pencil” he was stunned and gave up trying to replicate the beauty.

Question 9

Context

Answer 9

Guido is a religious artist who painted portraits of Christ and heaven- renaissance artist

In her letters she wrote “nature is a haunted house but art is a house that tries to be haunted”

To Dickinson art exists to make sense of mysterious nature