ρoᥱtrყ - ᥲ ᥴᥱrtᥲιᥒ sᥣᥲᥒt of ᥣιght Flashcards
When was it written and what was happening during this time?
1861, the age of doubt where people are beginning to question Christianity and introduce the concept of atheism due to increasing scientific proof
What is Dickinson well known for?
Her unconventionally styled poems that focus on morality, death and faith
What is the 1st point on form?
Regular quatrains reflect the monotonous structure of the Church
What is the 2nd point on form?
Arguably masquerades in the form of a hymn, created to praise God, to conceal her atheist feelings
What is the 3rd point on form?
Rhyme echoes the light as both are only partly there
What is the 4th point on form?
Irregular syntax capitalisation and dashes do not actually emphasise anything in particular
What is the 1st point of analysis?
🆃🅸🆃🅻🅴
“there’s” -> displaces the reader by implying the existence of something whilst that something is intangible, inducing an uncomfortable feeling beyond comprehension
What is the 2nd point of analysis?
🆃🅸🆃🅻🅴
“light” -> offers clarity of vision but cannot be described, a metaphorical attempt to conceptualise a feeling: links to verb “oppresses” which subverts the intangibility of light and personifies it to do something
What is the 3rd point of analysis?
The paradoxes “Heavenly Hurt”, “seal despair” and “imperial infliction” could represent the duality of her faith
What is the 4th point of analysis?
The pathetic fallacy permeates the poem with a bleak, monotonous melancholy
What is the 5th point of analysis?
It ends inconclusively with a dash, may imply her inability to finish the poem for her feelings of questioning God have dissipated
What is the 6th point of analysis?
“Breath” and “death” -> rhyme interlinks life and death which is propounded by the personified “shadows” and “Death”
What is the 7th point of analysis?
“Like the Heft” -> simile depicts the Cathedral tunes drowning out all other sounds
