Her Letter to the World
Please read the following poem by Emily Dickinson and respond to the questions below:
This is my letter to the world,
That never wrote to me,
The simple news that Nature told,
With tender majesty.
Her message is committed
To hands I cannot see;
For love of her, sweet countrymen,
Judge tenderly of me!
What inferences could you make from this poem about Emily Dickinson as a poet and a person? Examine also her picture above and comment on her expression, clothing, and/or overall appearance. How does she strike you?
posted by Kristin L | 9:56 PM
9 Comments:
I'd have to disagree with jacob. When i saw the picture of her I thought she was a silently strong person who observed the world through uncloudy glasses. I thought of her to be a simple woman with much to say about how we live. Her poem speaks, to me, of socital equality and fariness. I think she might be saying that under Nature we are all the same and so that is enough for pure equality.
In the first two lines of Emily's poem, I think she says that she made an impact on the world, but it never came back around and benefitted her. Yet, she is drawn to some sort of higher being, reigning over nature and manipulating it into a beautiful landscape. In her picture, I immediately thought she looked very young and reserved. What is she holding in her hands? Haha, but she reminds me of "The Others" also Suzanne! That was so gross how they took pictures of dead people! Oh my gosh!!! I'm gonna have nightmares...
This picture really actually scared me. I do not like old pictures like this, and it is all too dark. She has a lightness to her eyes however, as if hinting that she knows something I do not. Her poem is rich and exciting, it seems so daring simply because she uses the word "her" when talking about nature, most poems of most time periods exclude a female presence. She hints at a transcendentalist view in her wording, just enough so the poem seems complete.
I'm enjoying these comments; you're making creative and thoughtful connections. Does anyone want to respond to Rob's question about the meaning of the line, "Her message is committed to hands I cannot see"? I think the first step is to figure out whom the "her" is referencing. That sentence sounds so awkward, but I can't think of a better way to word it. Oh well.
In addition, I'm sorry if this picture gives you nightmares tonight.
Sigh...
Poor Emily.
She looks like she doesn't see much sunlight let alone much from her own front steps. I like this poem and most of her poems. Fairly normal yet very isolated, like her, yet so close to the world she could have been the shadow to anyone's blood and bone.
First off I just have to say I think she resembles the girl from "The Ring" But I think Ale's word choice is very apt. Demure is the perfect word. She aeems shy from her peom but she also seems dispirited. Something must have gone wrong for her recently. I did not get a first impression of transcendentalist ideals in her poem. It almost seemed like a cry for help or a warning to others about the pain life can bring. I do not think that she has quite given up though. She is channeling her sorrow into a poem.
I think that in Emily's picture, she looks very shy, timid, and stoic. The way she presents herself leads one to believe that she doesn't have very much to say and that she mostly keeps to herself. Yet we all know that this isn't true because of her writing. She says in the poem, "This is my letter to the world, that never wrote to me...". I interpreted this quote as saying that she is now revealing herself to the world, because no one has ever done that for her. No one has ever acknowledged her as who she really is through her writing and she wishes that they had.
PS- I really like Jacob's first line about her appearance. Mostly I liked it because that was exactly what I thought of. All the memories of The Crucible and witches rushing back! YAY!
Post a Comment
<< Home