My favorite poem was the 'name of it is 'autumn',' chiefly because of it's beautiful imagery. It is easy to see the influence of the death tolls of the Civil War in this poem -- I think both this poem and 'they dropped like flakes' really epitomize the violence and tragedy of this part of our nations (as you will learn today from the excellent presentation we have prepared for you).
Her style is so distinct. I love to watch her use dashes and compact almost incomprehensible depth into just a few words. Some of the poems flow and have compact rhyme (perhaps the result of the editing we saw in class on Tuesday, maybe); others are sporadic and you wonder if she actually thought that "things" and "obtain" really rhymed. Also, I'd love to know if Dickinson meant to cause a pause every time she used a dash. How would she have read her poems? Were they passionate or tranquil?
There's something really special about the cadence of Emily Dickinson's rhyme schemes. I've always really liked her poetry and recently, while I'm walking up from South Campus, I repeat her poems to myself. Sure, it makes me look like a loon but it eases the pain of 8 am classes.
"They dropped like flakes (step) they dropped like stars (step) like petals from a rose (step, step)..."
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I agree with you in that Emily portrays the “Autumn” poem and “they dropped like flakes” in a way that subtly shows the violence and tragedy that took place during this time. One thing I find really interesting about Dickinson’s style of writing is that she uses so many styles to express a wide variety of ideas. She isn’t fixed on the same form which makes her pieces even greater. With that said, the dashes also fascinated me. It made me question which parts of the lines were to be emphasized and gave ambiguous ideas for each stanza. I am a fan of rhyming poems because, obviously they flow much nicer than poems with no rhythm whatsoever but I am perplexed as to why Emily does use a rhyme scheme in some lines and none in others. And, I really enjoyed ya’lls presentation!
ReplyDeleteI'm probably not supposed to comment on a post that's already been commented on, but I really like this one... I definitely agree with what both of you said; one of the most mystifying and interesting aspects of Emily Dickinson's writing is her use of language in quirky and unexpected ways. That makes it sound more whimsical and less serious than it really is (I mean, she is talking about dead people here) but it adds a layer to the meaning of the poem. The quotation marks around the word "Autumn" is a further example of her use of symbols and syntax (dashes, quotations, and capitalization galore). It makes you wonder what she means to emphasize.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really loved the poem itself as well (beyond the grammar and composition). I think it's pretty rare to see a poet depict war and bloodshed so delicately while doing justice to the barbarity and gore at the same time. The juxtaposition of nature and unnatural death is a really striking comparison; who ever thought the Battle of Antietam could make for such beautiful reading? Also, her reclusive life makes me really intrigued as to the psychological effect of the constant barrage of Civl War news. It obvious didn't have a fantastic impact.
End result: Emily Dickinson might be nuts/disturbed/reclusive/etc., but her poetry is all at once unexpected, striking, disturbing and beautiful.
p.s. One of my favorite presentations... Well done =)