theres a certain slant of light (dickinson) Flashcards
themes
nature of despair
religion and nature
truth and transformation
speaker noticed “a certain Slant of light” that appears on “Winter Afternoons”
light usually connected with pos things but this “Winter” light “oppresses” the speaker
seeing this cold sunlight makes the speaker feel down, unhappy
poem explores this mysterious melancholy feelings, that is implied to be an unavoidable part of life
first described as heavy, like a weight pressing down on speakers soul. much like the weight when listening to “Catherdral Tunes”
going to church may remind people of their temporary place in the world, and are subject to forces beyond their control
maybe the despair speaker feels is connected to feeling of helplessness in relation to the rest of the uniferse
winter commonly associated with death, speakers despair may be tied to an understanding of the inevitability of death
the winter sunlight filtering down to the speaker makes the speaker think abt the fleeting nature of life and this awareness is what causes the speaker to feel pained and trapped
this “Slant of light” brings “Heavenly Hurt” this seems like an oxymoron as heavenly things are supposed to be pleasant not hurt
may suggest that if god gave life to humans he also created sense of despair because with life comes death
this despair can be thought as a mix of joy and fear, greatfulness and pain
deeply personal and inescapable nature of this feeling
“None may teach it” instead it’s an “imperial affliction” “Sent” to people from “the Air”
heaven was often described as an empire during dickinson a lifetime and these lines suggest the “affliction” comes from god or something greater than speaker
emphasizes speakers powerlessness in face of despair which like an emperors order can’t be countered
use of “us” implies this despair is shared by all of humanity and is just a part of life
at same time, it’s only experienced individually suggesting a sense of isolation and loneliness
this gives sense of hopelessness to poem; nothing speaker does can temper this despair
even landscape can do nothing but “listen” while “Shadows- hold their breath”
as if world can only wait for gods will to be done
even when despair lifts, it’s compared to the expression in a corpses eyes: just as death is unavoidable, so is any hope of combating this despair
capitalizations of “Slant”, “Winter Afternoons”, “Heft”, “Cathedral Tunes”, etc emphasize their significance
simile
“heft” and “catherdral tunes”. and these describe how the speaker feels about the “certain Slant of light”
rhyme scheme
abcb
commas and dashes divide and accentuate info while establishing a particular rhythm
oxymoron
“Heavenly Hurt”. the suffering that the speaker depicts is internal as “We can find no scar, but internal difference”
imagery
natural, like the winter setting or light to express certain internal struggles
conflict of speaker appears to be in the “internal difference-/Where the Meanings are-“
dashes have crucial role as they separate ideas, making them indépendant from the rest, at same time though they act as a connection between these ideas, building a deeper meaning
none can teach you about this “Heavenly Hurt” or “internal difference” as they’re impossible to defjne
“Any” refers to the subjectivity of the “internal difference” and it’s placed between dashes to emphasize its meaning
the subjects turn to be “the seal Despair”, due to the fact they can’t clearly be explained
metaphor
“imperial affliction/Sent us of the Air” returns to the idea at beginning, to the “certain Slant of light”. this metaphor sums up all of speakers despair and suffeting
nature listens to everything “the Landscape listens -/Shadows - hold their breath-“
similar to first stanza where nature is still and mysterious
personification
of nature and it mediates the internal struggles of the speaker with the external world
when light disappears “When it goes” it’s similar to death “tis like the Didtsnce/On the look of Death”
poem ends with dash rather than full stop. emphasizes idea of uncertainty and internal conflicts the poem presents.
rather than getting certain answer, reader is given further questions with the last dash
