Emily Dickinson Extended Metaphor

Throughout the poem, Dickinson employs repetition to show the cyclical experiences of the soul, hence to create an observant tone. At the beginning of the poem, the soul is going through her first stage of her cycle of experiences. The speaker refers to one of the three stages of the soul’s cycle when they voice, “The soul has bandaged moments” (Dickinson 1). The use of “moments” indicates there are multiple times where the soul experiences a distinct change in how certain events or actions are assessed, as well how the events or actions affect the soul, such as the soul feeling fearful during her bandaged moments. Therefore, the cyclical experiences of the soul expressed using repetition play into the observant tone of the poem, which is lengthened

In contrast, instead of showing hope is important with a theme, the poem Hope koIs The Thing With Feathers explains to us what hope is and and how it can keep you pulling in the toughest fights in your life. In the poem, the author

<br>Dickinson and Whitman also use similar poetic devices in "Hope is a Thing with Feathers" and "O Captain! My Captain!" Each poem contains an extended metaphor. In Dickinson 's poem, a bird clearly symbolizes hope. The first stanza introduces the bird metaphor: ‘Hope is the thing with feathers--/That perches in the soul. ' The next lines ‘And sings the tune without the words--/And never stops—at all— ' illustrate the interminable nature of the bird and hope. The second stanza expands the metaphor by saying ‘And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—. ' The bird 's song, or hope, is the sweetest during a Gale, or troubled times. The first lines in the final stanza ‘I 've heard it in the chillest land--/ And on the strangest Sea ' describe the bird, or hope, as being everywhere. The last lines ‘Yet, never, in Extremity,/It asked a crumb—of Me ' show the unselfish nature of the bird; hope never asks for anything in return. "O Captain! My Captain!" contains a more complicated and cryptic extended metaphor. Basically, Abraham Lincoln captains the metaphorical ship of the United States through the Civil War. The second line ‘The ship has weather 'd every rack, the prize we sought is won ' means the United States survived the tribulation of the Civil War, and the citizens won the prize they sought, unity. Abraham Lincoln

Emily Dickinson is considered to be one of the greatest poets of figurative language and imagery. I found her poem “Because I could Not Stop for Death” to be an exemplary illustration of those forms of writing. Enlaced with the personifications of Death, Immortality, and Eternity; Dickinson reaches into the depths of the reader’s psyche and transports them on a journey into her world of life after death. In this essay, I will attempt to show that due to certain event that occurred towards the end of her life that death’s arrival; although premature, was a welcomed relief and set the tone of the poem. The negative attributes that are normally associated with the arrival of death are replaced with a memorable carriage ride to meet the narrator’s eternity. The figurative writing within the poem leaves plenty of room for different interpretations of its meaning; however, Dickinson leave many key indicators within the symbolism and figurative language of the poem to convey a clear understanding, that is once you analyze all the facts.

“And sings the tune--without the words,” in this line Dickinson once again takes the reader from the imagery of a bird to the feeling that hope brings to the world. She writes that hope sings the tune, making the reader see and hear the bird sing a song. Then she brings the reader back to an unclear version of that image when she writes, without the words. It is as if she wanted the reader to imagine a bird with all its freedom and happiness in its song, and then takes it all back and brings the reader to their own idea of hope. Dickinson also chose to make it clear that hope sings without the words because hope isn’t meant to speak, but to inspire and light the way for new beginnings. Without words, the tune is less definitive and not restrained to our own vocabulary. Dickinson, much like most humans, had trouble communicating their emotions orally. Because of his I believe that Dickinson chose to clearly express that hope sings without words. Humans are restricted by the connotations and definitions that words carry. However, birds aren’t restricted by words, they keep chirping their tune without a care. Dickinson conveys the sense of freedom that hopes delivers without any strings attached. Hope will remain in one’s life singing

The poem describes "hope" as a bird, "that perches in the soul". This bird can be found within us all. The speaker makes one feel that hope is there when we are happy, sad, mad, or even feeling discouraged. In line 4, "And never stops - at all", the speaker sets the tone as if hope can never be crushed, that as long as if someone has hope, that person will have the will to keep going. The speaker continues this tone into the second stanza in the 5th and 6th lines "And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard / And sore must be the storm", by making the reader believe that even during a loud noise or strong storm such as a gale, hope will stand tall, as the storm is "sore" and tired of fighting against one's "hope". But then the tone shifts quite drastically in line 7 "That could abash the little Bird", by destroying the bird, which signifies hope. In lines 9-10, "I've heard it in the chillest land / And on the strangest Sea", The speaker changes the tone to sorrow. The speaker describes hearing hope as if they have heard it deep down within their soul, in areas of the mind that they never been able to explore, while in lines 11-12 " Yet - never - in Extremity / It asked a crumb - of me" the speaker appears to change the tone to one of hopefulness. The speaker makes it seem like they know there is hope deep down, that they can hear it, and while "hope" has not asked anything of the speaker, the speaker knows if ever needed, "hope" will be there for

Emily Dickinson, like many writers, wrote about her own interests. Although few of her works were published while alive, the topics, which she did write about, were relevant to her life – topics that are still relevant today. The three poems that I chose share commonalities, but are executed in unique ways. In her writing she has a tendency to leave room for the reader to express their own opinion on the piece, this allowing room for personal reflection and connection. For readers, this can mean that the writing becomes their “own” – they can identify with it. The three poems chosen all speak about topics that are rich with context and meaning – faith, mental illness, and personal vision. These characteristics are only noticed if one has the

What is left when hope has fled? Do we sit and wonder of what could have been, or do we off ourselves one by one? Is hope there for the crying wife, beaten and bruised by her husband, or does hope flee and remove all hope of survival? What does hope look like? Is hope a tree, a giant hulking beast, or a simple mundane worm? All we can do is ask and wonder on things of hope because the universe will not answer the questions we ask of it, but when confronted with the subject of hope, Emily Dickinson wrote the poem “Hope.” “Hope” is a short poem that can be easily read by anyone, but features symbolism that can take deeper meaning. Dickinson portrays a feeling that anyone can relate to throughout her poem and has a message that can be related

Dickinson often relates herself to a bird, showing that she can rise above society and is free within the world of her poetry. She says “Himself has but to will/And easy as a Star/Abolish his Captivity” (“Poem 613”, 9-11). If she is comparing herself to a bird, it is clear that while, on the surface, the bird is escaping the pound he was imprisoned in for treason, she is following his example and flying out of her prison of prose. The poem again is brought back to the idea of ridiculing society’s views of Dickinson with this line “And laugh—No more have I” (“Poem 613”, 12). Here Dickinson says that the bird laughs at its prison as it escapes, and reconjures the comparison between a bird and Dickinson. She also laughs at her prison, and escapes by her will to make something better of herself than what society pressures her to

Dickinson and Whitman also use similar poetic devices in "Hope is a Thing with Feathers” and “O Captain! My Captain!” Each poem contains an extended metaphor. In Dickinson’s poem, a bird clearly symbolizes hope. The first stanza introduces the bird metaphor: ‘Hope is the thing with feathers--/That perches in the soul.’ The next lines ‘And sings the tune without the words--/And never stops—at all—’ illustrate the interminable nature of the bird and hope. The second stanza expands the metaphor by saying ‘And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—.’ The bird’s song, or hope, is the sweetest during a Gale, or troubled times. The first lines in the final stanza ‘I’ve heard it in the chillest land--/ And on the strangest Sea’ describe the bird, or hope, as being

Emily Dickinson establishes in the first stanza of her poem that she understands the idea that someone she cares about may leave her. She begins her poem by saying, “It did not surprise [her]” (37) when it was time for the bird to leave its nest. Dickinson is attempting to agree with the natural idea that this bird will eventually leave her one day. It is inevitable that a child will one day move on from his or her parents bringing about a certain pain to those that love him or her. However, this does not dismiss the pain she feels from her love leaving. The three dashes she uses in the first two lines lengthen the time for the reader to get to the revelation that Dickinson’s love

This poem by Emily Dickinson is about a bird representing hope which never falters despite all challenges presented. When reading this poem a pattern that Emily often uses is personification.. She already uses a bird to represent hope. She also continues to use “chillest land” and “strangest sea”. These are difficult settings where it is expected for the “bird” to give up. Then she goes on and says “Yet -never-… asked a crumb-of me.” This bird persevered on and never asked for help. Emily says that hope never dies, even through the toughest times. Emily is saying what hope means to her. Being able to trust and hope for things in difficult situations hope is always there. It never asks for anything in return. She uses different rhyme in each

In the poem “Before I Got My Eye Put Out,” Dickinson discusses, instead of a specific bird, the motions and movements that all birds make. Through this, Dickinson begins to describe all of the beauty in the world that she was able to see. Her enjoyment of the graceful motions that birds make is evident throughout the poem. In this poem, though only mentioned once, the reader is aware of the importance that the bird species holds in Dickinson’s heart. The reader is able to see “the speaker’s wonder and awe of the world.” The speaker also appears to use “the motions of the dipping birds” to show the infinite. The repetition that birds’ wings make as they fly are continuously repeated and create a sense of timelessness and infiness within the poem.

For most, specifically female poets, Emily Dickinson is a legend. Dickinson emerged out of an era in the 1800’s when women were not acknowledged for their diligence and were not given the opportunities to be educated as males were given. Dickinson wrote a total of one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five poems including “She Sweeps with many-colored Brooms”, which was written between 1858 and 1861. Dickinson is well known for the themes of her literary works to involve death, love, religion, nature, or eternity. The poem “She Sweeps with many-colored Brooms” incorporates the use of a theme involving nature since in her poem a common housewife is being compared to a parting sunset. Through the use of an extended metaphor and specific

The first line introduces the extended metaphor saying, “’Hope’ is the thing with feathers.” The metaphor in the first line leads us to question, what is hope?  In the first line Dickinson is suggesting that hope is more than just a feeling it is something physical, in this case, a bird. Each part of the bird has meaning in this poem whether it be its actions its or its physical appearance. Hope relates to a bird a lot more than one would think. Feathers are what makes a bird fly, they protect the bird and keep it safe. If a wing is broken, then the bird is most likely going to die because it cannot fly anywhere. If a person is broken it means that they have no hope and if there is no hope inside someone’s soul, then are they really living?