A Bird Came Down the Walk - Exam Response

Here is a link to an actual examination response on A Bird Came Down the Walk from a student who went on to achieve an A* at A2.

This is a good example of how to handle a tricky question.

My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun - Example Essay

            “None stir the second time –

            On whom I lay a Yellow Eye –

            Or an emphatic Thumb – “

Discuss ways in which Dickinson uses setting in ‘My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun’.

Setting is important to the work of Dickinson. We see this in the poem ‘The last Night that She lived’ where “Her final Room” is representation of her grave being a house and so bringing comfort despite her forthcoming entrapment. Setting is also seen in the poem ‘Because I could not stop for Death’, here the “swelling of the ground” conveys the earth dug out from her grave to entail her to rebirth instead of death. However, it is in ‘My life had stood – a Loaded Gun’ that we see the most clear depiction of setting in Dickinson’s work. The poem explores how the speaker becomes a faithful hound to their “Master” in a bid to die, despite the inability to escape.

In ‘My life had stood – a Loaded Gun’ the central symbol is the “Yellow Eye” which represents the spark of the gun as it is fired; it could also be seen that the light is representative of the end of life, despite this being impossible for the speaker who is without “the power to die”. The reference of volcanoes conveys the erupting pleasures as the “cordial light” goes off. This light, likewise to the “Yellow Eye”, portrays the gun firing, and the oxymoronic use of “cordial” explores the pain as being someone else’s, most likely the pain suffered by women. Setting is also linked to death is ‘Because I could not stop for Death’, here the “carriage” picks up the speaker and brings joy at the forthcoming prospect of death; death becomes a desire and medicine to the speaker’s depression. ‘My life had stood – a Loaded Gun’ conveys male power through the use of setting; the “Mountains straight reply” which is representation of a quick response as the speaker takes on a male form and gains importance.

The poetry in ‘There’s a certain slant of light’ becomes affected by the “light” and therefore has a damaging effect. Despite the damage, there is a constant iambic tetrametre and trimetre in a bid to provide comfort from the light. ‘My life had stood – a Loaded Gun’ likewise features iambic tetrametre and trimetre to restrict the speaker, however restrictions are released through the hyphens. Hyphens are used to explore the tension that is exploding as the gun is fired. Once the firing is over, the hyphens are representative of a calming breathing, going in and out, to provide control over frustration. Hyphens are the key structural technique throughout the poem, and so as well as portraying control and explored tension; they are also representative of an incomplete thought. The reader gets the sense that something is missing or being hidden, this may well be hidden fear as the speaker comes to face the phallic “Master” killing the yonic, a incomplete power battle, as ultimately the woman holds the gun.

‘My life had stood – a Loaded Gun’ features the detachment of body parts, possibly in a bid to avoid fear taking over the speaker’s entire body. An “emphatic Thumb”, the trigger pulled by an unknown thumb despite the knowledge that the speaker fired, causes the gun’s spark. Body parts are also illustrated through the “Loaded Gun” which is phallic imagery; the deification emphasises the potential for rage, danger and destruction, and the gun being ready to fire and destroy live. The theme of death runs throughout Dickinson’s poetry and can be seen in ‘The last Night that She lived’, where death brings comfort and takes the speaker home. The speaker describes themselves as a “Reed” bending to the Water to die, however like the speaker in ‘My life had stood – a Loaded Gun’ she is unable to die and instead will live a life of immortality. The speaker of ‘My life had stood – a Loaded Gun’ closes the poem with the upset of having the “power to kill” but not die, which is her ultimate desire, so we see the destruction of female hopes through male dominance and her loyalty to allow him to die in her place, “He longer must – than I”.

Ultimately, setting is crucial to the work of Dickinson. We see throughout her poems that death is a prominent setting and provides an end to the speaker’s depression, however, it is likely that the speaker is unable to die in every one of Dickinson’s poems and instead face “Immortality”. In the poem ‘My life had stood – a Loaded Gun’, the setting is ultimately one of male dominance, in which females have the ability to kill, as desired by men, but not meet their own ambitions of dying. 

Going to Him! Happy Letter - Example Essay

Discuss ways in which Dickinson uses personification in “Going to Him’

One of the recurring images in Dickinson’s collection is that of the personification of inanimate objects, and the separation of body parts from her and how they have grown there own independent features. This is shown in poems such as; “What mystery pervades as well,” were we see the snake shown as a “narrow fellow”, which could be seen as a representation of a phallic image, which could further portray Dickinson’s fear of being entrapped by men, and her inexperience where men are concerned. It is also shown in “I heard a fly buzz,” we see how she portrays the fly as a symbol of the Devil and how he is coming to get her, “I heard a fly buzz- when I died-“ in this poem we see how she fears the fly stealing her away when really she has no place in hell, and how God is unforgiving and does not wish to fight against the fly to prevent him taking her. One of the most prominent uses of personification is that of “eyes” and how they are constantly watching and judging her, an example of this is in “Going to Him! Happy Letter!” in which we see how the eyes within the letter start to judge her and threaten to tell the gentleman that Dickinson is sending the letter to how inexperienced she is, “You guessed—from the way the sentence toiled—“ This is an indication of her constant paranoia and again shows her fear of rejection by society and also individuals. 

In the poem “Going to Him! Happy Letter!” the main use of personification is the letter as being happy. We see how Dickinson, at the start of her letter, is very joyful and is excited about finally being able to write a love letter to the man that she loves, and we see how her happiness is then passed through to the letter and how the inanimate piece of paper is feeling, “Happy Letter!” In the eyes of Dickinson the piece of paper is less of a piece of paper but more a messenger that will recite the message to the man when, and if, it is received. This is why we see that she has a rather deep and almost friendship like relationship with this piece of paper. “And you—got sleepy—and begged to be ended—“ this also most brings that back to a teenage or child like state, as if they are having a sleepover and have been telling secrets, which is the contents of the letter, and then one has become to tired and had “begged” to go to sleep. This relationship is a contrast to the other relationships that are present in her other poems, an example of this would be in “The last Night that She lived,” in which we see how she feels more jealousy than sorrow at the loss of her friend. We see how she wishes that she was the one to die, but as we see in all her previous poems she is unable to die even though it is her main wish in life. “While She must finish quite/ A Jealousy for Her arose” this could be seen as another indication that she fears the rejection of others and so she seeks relations with items that can not refuse her friendship, which takes from in this poem as the paper.

Nonetheless, we also see how the letter goes from being her friend to just another set of eyes that are there to watch and criticize her every move. “And then you wished you had eyes in your page—“ As we can see from her other poems, “eyes” bring nothing but panic and fear as she does not like to be belittled by others. Also the use of detachment, rather than it being people watching her it is simply their eyes, this shows that she had no emotional connection and cannot connect with the person in anyway. This also makes the image more intimidating for her, as if there is not way that she can escape the eyes and there is no compaction from the heart of the person, as there is non. It also makes the idea of being watched eerier, eyes are meant to be the window to the soul and these “eyes” clearly have no soul and so could be a reference to them as almost demon like with more soul or compaction. This image of the ‘eyes’ is also shown in “I heard a fly buzz” in which rather that having a room of mourners as she passes away, we see how they are just eyes, “They Eyes around” Once more we see how the eyes bring her distress, and that she has no emotional connection with them they are simply there. It also says that the eyes “ha wrung them dry—“ showing that the eyes are no longer crying, this could have two different meanings; one the ‘eyes’ in the room know that this is what she wanted, that she has always wanted to die and to move on to the next life, or secondly it could mean that they feel no compaction towards her, they will no miss her and are happy that she has gone and will no longer darken their days.

The poem is written in a trochaic meter, which contrast to her other poems, which are written in tetra and tri meter, which leads to the poem having the feeling that it is missing something. We also see another comparison in this poem, in this poem we see how she is feeling strong and overwhelming amounts of emotion of joy and love. Instead of speeding up due to the overriding sense of joy, which is what we commonly see her doing in her other poems, we see how the joy causes her to slow down, and to taking a breath and her time when delivering her message to the “Happy letter!” Her excitement is also shown in the use of anaphora, with the reputation of “Tell him” which indicates her rising excitement and how she is also most becoming breathless at the thought of all the things she wants to tell him, “Tell him the page I did n’t write;” This again could show how she has been fully consumed by the emotion of love that she is feeling towards him. Also on the line “So you could see what moved them so.” the repetition of “so” gives the line a palindromic quality, giving the line a cyclic quality so she will always end up where she started meaning that she will never have the confidence to be able to send the letter, “Tell him just how she sealed you, cautious,”

In conclusion we can see how Dickinson using personification to bring across to the reader her fear of being judged and her constant paranoia that everything, even inanimate objects are watching and passing judgment upon her. We also see with the use of personification the close relationships that she has with her positions, her relationship with the letter is not like a friendship than her simple writing a letter, and this then highlights her inability to have any form of relations with other people as she has the constant fear of being rejected and neglected.

Because I Could Not Stop For Death - Notes

The exemplification of time as an element is represented in a paradoxical circumstance – for time is hurried and yet restricts its pace concurrently. Through the poet’s insanity, time has developed into that which is but a mere non-existent concept– time has been shed of its original purpose, which was once to regulate her life. Time has been distorted through the speaker’s enjoyment in death – it no longer follows the conventional understanding of time that we comprehend; en route to her grave, time rushes beyond what she is accustomed to in life and she finally immerses herself in indulgence – her last day of life is too slow which is all too ironic. Reflecting on carriage journey – cannot define time, non specific, after death , time stops, describes abstract beyond our recognition – mankind does not experience such courses of events and thus time loses its association with the speaker as life has become the past. Death is a deliverance to her, when alive – time slaughters her diminishing soul, time reluctant to pass – when death finally stops, time freezes – parallel world whereby emotions do not reign her existence.

SYMBOLS

Throughout journey – many symbols emerge –, immortality, ‘recess’ ‘slowly drove’ ‘no haste’ – though time does not exist however the speaker’s mentality has lingered amongst the living cosmos - time reminds us of our being, her heart still holds aspirations in the world.

‘He knew no haste’ – death cannot feel this need to attain her demise

Being alive was a form of suffering, reminisce past of work ‘grain’ ‘setting sun’ , once felt that such events were painstaking however the carriage journey provokes an abrupt acknowledgement that the course of these events could be reviewed as but a brief cloud of smoke that approaches and then dissipates into nothing.

‘feels shorter than a day’ – reiterates that her enjoyment outweighs the suffering she once felt

Dickinson: ‘forever is composed of nows’ – from the poet’s perspective – being alive is not life or death, after death, time itself suspends, no tension pulling her existence into a dark void, she is only the souls that remains  – that which is the eternity she yearns for.

In ‘After great pain, a formal feeling comes’ – ‘yesterday – or centuries before’ – juxtaposed due to their likeness, no difference ; lost sense of time, not sure when Christ died – ‘feels like one day’ – no sense of reason or judgement

‘first chill then stuper then the letting go’ imagery of hypothermia = freezing to death, speaker wants this death – ‘I could not stop for death’ – time frozen

wants to freeze to death – but why want death – because time is death – and once dead – time has frozen and thus freeze to death

she desires death that which is insinuated by the freezing of hypothermia – death is what she wishes to attain and time embodies death, in death, she thus reaches her desired numb senses through the suspension of time/death

STRUCTURE

Iambic tetrameter and trimeter – mirrors the rhythm of their movement, also shows the extension of time, speaker is semi-conscious of the fact that time has

ceased to exist and thereby chooses to continue the illusion of time being present still.

Solidity of rhyme – pararhyme such as ‘me’ ‘immortality’ – ‘away’ ‘civility’ , demonstrates her calm state, harmonious atmosphere, or solidity is what she seeks – invariably soothes her inner chaos

When reflecting upon childhood and ‘grain’ – never indulged in such supposedly inevitable stages in life – all of a sudden, aware of the fact that she lived a meaningless life - lost control in speech, even rhyming patter thus disrupted and no rhyme at all… ‘rain’ ‘sun’ , After there is solid rhyme ‘chill’ ‘tulle” ‘ground’ ‘mound’ – bipolar, fluctuating emotions.

Never experienced things of merriment that institute the evidence of one’s existence – lapse of time is this gap in her life

‘a narrow fellow in the grass’ When looking for safety and control, rhyming represents her attempt to overcome her emotions ‘corn’ ‘morn’ ‘sun’ ‘gone’ – in times of anxiety and fear, we witness the surfacing of instability in her rhyme – it collapses and disintegrates into nothing. ‘rides’ ‘is’  and shivers with ‘zero at the bone’

Atmosphere is tranquil in nature – observing the snake but ‘whip lash’ ‘tighter breathing’ – although no specific time phrases used ‘stooping’ ‘gone’ the impulsive strain and tension of the moment stimulated by the snake is demonstrated

OTHER

Anaphora – ‘we passed’; the repetition of the past tense here, reiterates that the speaker does not have the capacity to recapture these moments/ life experiences. Her anxious tone in speech realizes that she is able to list her life’s regrets with ease and their vast number, they pass by one after the other. Time can be equated to death in the respect that the speaker may never control it to appease her desires.

Personified death as a ‘gentleman’ – time is an abstract form of death, induces pain, time slaughters her in life and in death, death has become the cessation of time and time has subsequently transformed into gentlemen – she is under the shield of eternity – immortal, perpetual

‘My life had stood a loaded gun’ – in contrast to the personification of death, she dehumanizes herself to become a gun… ‘for I have but the power to kill but without the power to die’ - entrapped in her own world and inability to escape forever in some ways are also means of perpetual torment in the deprivation of emotions. 

Because I Could Not Stop For Death - Example Essay #1

Discuss ways in which Dickinson presents time in “Because I could not stop for death”

Throughout the various poems in Emily Dickinson’s collection we can see the constant reference to time and the different effects that the length of time has one her. We can see how the pain that is present in her life causes time to become elongated.  An example of this would be in; “I heard a fly buzz” we see how Dickinson become breathless as she wishes for time to speed up and for God to save her from the “fly”, and then it is shown again in; “After great pain, a formal feeling comes-“ in which we see that it is simply only a matter of time before the pain comes again, we see her struggle to break the cycle and to stop time catching up with her. However, the poem that most effectively presents time is in, “Because I could not stop for Death.” We can see how when she is in the company of death she does not wish for the time to speed away but instead we see that she wishes for him to take his time, “We slowly drove- -He knew no haste.”

In the poem; “I could not stop for Death” we are shown the figure of death as a man on horse back coming to collect Dickinson’s in a carriage before he carries her off to death. In this poem the idea of the pain of her life elongating time is really prominent. We are given the image that “Since then—‘tis Centuries—and yet/ Feels shorter than they Day.” This highlights that the centuries that she have been death feel shorter that the one of the days that she spent waiting for death to arrive. This again illustrates the extension of time and the increase of the pain that she feels as time goes on. We see how she does not wish for him to rush, she wants to take in the sights of her last day alive, which is different to many of her other poems as we generally see how she is impatient in waiting for death and how she longs for him to hurry to her. We see how they “passed the School; where Children strove” and then also they “passed the Fields of grazing Grain,” these are younger items, and then the poem progresses to “the setting sun,” which indicates the end, the sun going down, darkness will be closing in and the day is almost over. This could be interpreted as the circle of life, if the day was split into sections of life, we see how at they start of their journey the see the young ones, whose’ lives have just began, to as the day comes to a close we see how she is nearing death, her life comes to an end just as the day does. 

We can also see how her death is not as instant as the figure of death arriving, we see how they take a long, even romantic, ride in his carriage where they see that various different things of natural beauty, but we see how she is not concerned at the fact that she is not dying immediately, she is willing to spend time with death. This gives us the impression that death is like a gentleman caller that comes to visit her and take her on long carriage rides in the countryside. She longs for everything else to speed up, but now that she has death within her sights she is willing to wait and allow him to take his time. This then contrasts with the poem; “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died-“ in this poem we see how she is desperate for God to hurry and take her away to death, because she fears that the “Fly”, who represents the devil will take her away to hell. We see her panic in this poem by the enjambment between the lines, which not only gives us the image of Dickinson being breathless, but also if the poem is read allowed, the reader becomes breathless too, again reflecting her feelings through to the reader.

The structure of the poem is set out with an iambic tetra and trimeter, which for the reader give the effect of ‘did-dum’, when they are reading, this reflects the image of death being in the carriage and the meter gives the effect of the horses hooves. There is also no solid rhyme within this poem, only Para rhyme, which gives the poems the feeling that it is missing something that the rhyme is meant to be there but she is just unable to rhyme. This could be for many reasons, she is excited by the throughout death so is so caught up with the story of this that she is able to rhyme, or that she fears that even though she will have what she has always wanted, the freedom of death, will she end up in heaven or hell and this is what she fears more that anything. The fear of being stuck forever in darkness is also show in “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died-“, in which we see her fear of the fly capturing her, “I could not see to see-“, she fears living in the endless darkness. We also see that the us of tetra and tri, again makes the lines look as if they are missing something, the use of one short sentence followed by one long, cuts the reader short and makes the poem feel awkward to read allowed, which could reflect the awkward nature of her life.

Behind Me - Dips Eternity - Example Essay

Discuss the ways in which time is explored in ‘Behind Me – dips Eternity’

Time is important to the work of Dickinson. We see this in the poem ‘I heard a Fly buzz’ where the speaker speeds up time and therefore allows themselves to be prevented from reaching the “King”, a representation of heaven. Time is also seen in the poem ‘There’s a certain slant of light’ where the time of days affects the light which in turn damages her soul and creates an “internal difference”. However, it is in ‘Behind Me – dips Eternity’ that we see the most clear depiction of time in Dickinson’s work. The poem explores how the speaker feels despair at the past, present and future, and there is no hope for escape from “Immortality”.

In ‘Behind Me – dips Eternity’ the central symbol is the “maelstrom in the sky” which reflects the speaker’s constant existence within a storm, and how, despite the forces of time, she remains inside the storm with a bleak future and no hope. The speaker is effectively trapped in time as her past gave her “Eternity” and her future presents her with “Immortality” and so she is forced to accept capture between the two, and escape becomes a distant ambition. The speaker builds a hatred for life as an end is not in sight, particularly when she describes herself as a “Crescent in the Sea”, this conveys her lost sense of hope as she realise there is no way forward in this life and she is merely a boat drifting in the sea to no destination. Times constant presences lead to the speaker’s depression, as darkness too becomes a companion constantly at her side as “midnight” takes over and further emphasises her depressive emotions. In contrast, the speaker ‘This world is not Conclusion’ feels despair for the present but is hopeful for the future as it looks less bleak. The speaker accepts the tooth that “nibbles at the soul”, a metaphor for the problems we face in life, but despite this she remains positive for the future as this is the way to escape her soul’s ache. The speaker accepts that the next stage in her life will not be a heaven but there is more to life than what we previously believe, and ultimately time will guide us.

‘Behind Me – dips Eternity’ is built around hyphens that emphasise chaos, however the hyphens also slow down the poem and so make it thoughtful in contrast to the despair the speaker feels; and so the slowing down of the poem elongates the time in which any sight of an end is available to the speaker. The hyphens are also used to restrict the speaker and therefore capture her in amongst time; “the term between” is captured by hyphens and is reflective of times nature in entrapping the speaker between eternity and immortality. Their use at the ends of lines also highlights that time is the only future prospect. Alliteration is used in a mocking way as it slows down the words being spoken, yet these words give hope of a new beginning; “Dissolving into Dawn” is elongated to present a calming atmosphere, yet the speaker is given false hope of a new beginning and start. The speaker reflects on the things she missed out on in life in ‘Because I could not stop for Death’ and feels sorrow of not having “children” and a lover, which lead to the absence of pararhyme. She also reflects on how the “ring” the children play in reflects her unbroken cycle of life and “immortality” which is further emphasised through the use of anaphora.

The speaker mocks the religious idea of there being a heaven in ‘Behind Me – dips Eternity’ as no such “miracle” will happen to her. She repeats “miracle” to mock its reliability and existence in reality, which the speaker doubts due to the “Immortality” she suffers. However her sarcasm can also be seen to reflect her jealously of there being a better world after death which she will never experience; “Son of None” suggests that the speaker has lost hope of God saving her away from the “Maelstrom” she finds herself continually stuck in. She also feels envy of the “Kingdom” that she will never reach, despite her mocking attitude implying a lack of religious values. In ‘After great pain a formal feeling comes’ the speaker describes the stages of their headache, the “great pain”. The speaker is similar to that of ‘Behind Me – dips Eternity’ in which an end to the pain is desired but unlikely, as the pain continues to go “round”, and for both death is the only way to escape the suffering yet neither can die or “[let] go”.

Ultimately, time is important to Dickinson’s work. When the light “comes” in ‘There’s a certain slant of light’ the speaker conveys the sense of destruction and fear as the time comes for the light to cause doom. Time is portrayed in ‘I heard a Fly buzz’ where the speaker ends up in the darkness of hell that has no end to time. However, ‘Behind Me – dips Eternity’ has the most evident use of time as the speaker is entrapped within the boundaries of time and the prospect of both “Eternity” and “Immortality”.

I heard a Fly Buzz - Example Essay #2

“And then the windows failed, and then I could not see to see”

How does Dickinson display fear in this poem and elsewhere in her poetry?

Without question on of the main recurring images throughout Dickinson’s poetry is that of fear. We can see this in many of her poems and we see how it takes different forms and how she fears various aspects of life and death. An example of this would be in “It was not death for I stood up,” where we see her fear being “shaven and fitted to a frame,” and again in “There’s a certain slant of light,” with the line, “Heavenly hurt it gives us;” Both of these illustrate the constant fear that is being inflicted upon Dickinson, but the most effective example of fear in her poems is in “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died-“ Throughout this poem we see how the fear that she is feeling is all consuming, and we see predominantly how she fears the coldness of others and how quick they are to judge and change their minds with other giving her a second thought.

The key recurring symbol that seems to impose the most fear into her is the image of the fly, “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died” The fly could represent two things, it could either be that she fears that the fly will begin the decomposition of her body after her death or that the image of the fly is typically connected with the image of Beelzebub and Satan. She fears that rather than being able to have peace in her after life in heaven she will be taken away with the fly and have to continue her days in darkness, “I could not see to see-“ and this fear is the one the drives the fear for the rest of the poem. “There interposed a Fly-“ The other things that creates fear within her is the image of the fly accidently taking her way, “With Blue- uncertain stumbling Buzz-“ this represents that the fly is even uncertain is she should go to hell, and portrays the even as unintentional and this is what she fears, she fears being wrongly taken to hell even though she may not deserve it. She also fears the cold nature of God, he is willing to allow something as small as a fly to stop her from being allowed into heaven, “Between the light-and me-“ this shows that you only have one change to get into heaven and that God is not willing to give you a second chance, this again shows that even a figure that many consider as being forgiving and loving, is cold towards her, showing that she has no connection with anyone.

“The Eyes around- had wrung them dry-“ From this we can see all the ‘people’ who have come to visit Dickinson after she has died, but we can see how they are only portrayed as eyes, this indicated that they is no emotional connection between her and her family and friends, and also the fact that they have stopped crying could be an indication that they are happy that she has died as she was more of a burden on their lives. But the use of eyes also illustrates her fear of being watched and judged by others around her, we can see how she is constantly parodied that people are watching her and what they think of her. “What portions of me be/ assigned”, this is a real contrast with the image of the eyes, showing that she feels a deeper and more meaning full connection with her belonging that she does with her family, but we can also see that she fears signing away herself to others, she does it with a large amount of reluctance and the use of formal language could show that she feels that the others are not worth of part of her.

Unlike many of her other poems the structure and use of literary techniques, such as capital letters and punctuation, is incorrect in this poem, as a reader we can believe that this has been purposely inserted to indicate her rising fear and distress, “Was like the Stillness in the Air-“ The breakdown of standard English demonstrates that the fear is causing her to think unreasonable and the fear is so great that she is not concerned with her punctuation. The use of tetra and tri on her line structure makes the lines not flow and has an awkward feel for the reader, creating an image of a broken woman, who is lost within the world. It also makes the line feel as if it is missing something, this again makes Dickinson appear to missing something and that her life is wrong to her, nothing is able to flow. The use of enjambment again makes the poem awkward to read out loud as the reader is unable to take a breath, but this reflects the breathless nature of Dickinson and also makes it clear to the reader how the poem is almost like her chain of thought. It also illustrates her longing for God to hurry up, “What portions of me be/ assignable- and then it was” the us of not punctuation allows the line to flow and be spoken with a quicker pace, and indication of her longing to get into heaven before the “fly” is able to grab her and take her to hell.

One Need Not be A Chamber - Exam Response

Here is a link to an actual examination response on One Need Not Be a Chamber from a student who went on to achieve an A at A2.

This is a good example of how to handle a tricky question.

I heard a Fly Buzz - Example Essay #1

“The Stillness in the Room

            Was like the Stillness in the Air –

            Between the Heaves of Storm – “

Discuss ways in which Dickinson explores transitions in ‘I heard a Fly buzz – when I died’.

Transitions are important to the work of Dickinson. We see this in the poem ‘Because I could not stop for Death’ where the speaker’s failure to die leads her to be reborn and live for “eternity”. Transitions are also seen in the poem ‘What mystery pervades a well’ in which the “water” starts a new life of freedom after escaping from the capturing well. However, it is in ‘I heard a Fly buzz – when I died’ that we see the most clear depiction of transitions in Dickinson’s work. The poem explores how the speaker’s plans to reach heaven and the “King”, but instead finds their life leading to Hell as the “Fly” blocks the way.

In ‘I heard a Fly buzz’, the central symbol is the “Fly” which blocks the speaker’s way to heaven and so they can no longer get there and to see the “King”. The speaker instead goes to hell as a result of the Fly who “interposed”; this is a huge issue for the speaker as God does not appear first as she had hoped but rather is blocked and captured. However, even before this, the speaker is ready for the next stage in their life, facing heaven or hell, as she “Signed away” her belongings and wrote her will. In the end, this next phase is never reached due to the Fly’s interference; as a result the speaker “could not see to see” and ends up in darkness. Due to missing her chance to escape hell, the speaker becomes stuck forever and entrapped in an undesired world. The preparations and thought for the next stage of life are also illustrated in ‘The last Night that She lived’. Here Dickinson uses yonic imagery to convey the speaker returning home as a “Reed” to die; she “Bent to the Water” to achieve the next transition of death.

The poem ‘What mystery pervades a well’ features enjambment and elongation to emphasise the utter freedom achieved as the water is freed from its previous limits; “floorless” is elongated and conveys this achieved satisfaction as the

speaker is no longer trapped by the male “well”. Enjambment is also used in ‘I heard a Fly buzz’, here it is used to quicken the reading and speaking speed, as the speaker is rushing to avoid Satan’s presence and be in hell; but she also becomes breathless as a result and so enjambment provides breathing space. The speaker is so eager to reach the next stage in life that they become stressed and anxious; as a result the punctuation is chaotic. Throughout the poem there is chaos in terms of punctuation reflected stress and panic as the speaker becomes desperate to reach the next phase of their life. Deification is emphasised on “Stillness in the Air” as there is little stillness but rather fear and a constant inability for the speaker to think.

Throughout Dickinson’s poetry there is a recurring symbol of eyes that are also portrayed in ‘I heard a Fly buzz’. The “Eyes” are deified which emphasises the lack of emotional connection between the speaker and those looking at her. The deification also serves the purpose of creating a religious tone, such that the eyes are the ultimate judgment before she dies; they are “dry” and so happy she is dead as it is deserving, and also portrays the speaker passing judgment. The poem is also foreshadowing, “Heaves of Storm” represent the doom coming and convey the calm before the storm; through “Heaves” appearing to look like heaven it has a mocking effect that the speaker will not reach this but rather the next transition in life will be hell. Transitions of time are reflected in ‘After great pain a formal feeling comes’ where the stages of the headache are described. The aftermath is addressed as the “hour of lead”, and though the pain remains heavy, it is the next stage in being free from the pain as the speaker’s emotions change in response to it.

Ultimately, transitions are crucial to Dickinson’s work. In many poems, the next stage of life is rebirth despite the desires to die, as seen in ‘Because I could not stop for Death’ where “immortality” is inevitable. However, it is in ‘I heard a Fly buzz – before I died’ that we see the most effective use of transitions as the speaker prepares to reach heaven but the “Fly” prevents all aspirations from being achieved, not even eternity can save the speaker as they become captured in hell.

I heard a Fly Buzz - Essay Plan

‘I heard a Fly buzz – when I died’

Useful Link: http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/fly.html

Terror / Death / Entrapment / Hope and Hopelessness / Afterlife / Isolation  

Introduction

-          (Terror) ‘Corridors‘ in ‘The brain’ in One need not be a Chamber – to be Haunted - conveys the horror inside a person – the hidden and scary places in a mind are more dangerous than ‘external ghosts’

-          (Entrapment) The last night that she lived where she expresses the pain of being trapped in the world that is ‘awful’ to her.  She sees being ‘dead’ as a way to escape from the pain

-          ‘Despair’ in It was not death, for I stood up that shows the image of her drifting away from hope

-          ‘The Fellow’ as a phallic symbol of danger in A narrow Fellow in the Grass

Central Symbol

-          ‘Fly’ is a common symbol for corruption or a demonic presence (like Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies)

-          The speaker juxtaposes two disparate elements

o   The trivial occurrence of hearing the ‘fly’

o   Death, an important of a person’s life:  ‘when I died’

-          The fly appears in her death, as a negative figure

-          It ‘interposes’ the silence in the scene: This creates a sense of bathos as the ‘buzz’ of a fly distracts the dying figure. 

-          It is perhaps that the fly becomes the central figure of the poem – much of the final stanza is dominated by the fly.  Rather than the rituals of death, attention is focused on the fly. 

-          Dickinson’s use of symbolism foregrounds the power of the fly and immediately foreshadows the doom in the poem – The Fly comes between ‘light’ and the speaker

-          It is possible that the light represents eternal life: The speaker who hopes to escape from the sufferings in her current life is blocked by the Fly in her final reach to the ‘King’ (reference to Christ of God)

-          This conveys the pain in entrapment: The speaker is trapped by the ‘buzz’ of a Fly, only a trivial problem

-          This is further emphasized in the final line where she ‘could not see to see’.

-          As physical sight recedes the speaker could be suggesting a failure of perception – the inability to see through to the glory of the next life

-          Hopeless -> cant go to heaven / trapped in present life

It was not death, for I stood up where she depicts the nearing of the end ‘when everything that ticked has stopped’ with the metaphor of ‘grisly frosts’.  She is afraid of the ending where she will be drifted away in a boat ‘without’ a ‘report of land’

Techniques

-          The poem is a typical hymn metre with pararhyme on lines 2 and 4 until the final stanza

-          The use of hymn structure perhaps alludes the poem to the criticism of religion

-          The speaker’s message to the ‘King’ who failed to save her from pain, the ‘storm’

-          The speaker conveys incompletely due to the fact that she is trapped between her life and heaven.  This idea is enhanced by the use of pararhymes like ‘Room’ and ‘Storm’.  This indicates the fear inside her to forbids her to construct normally. 

-          She is broken and damage inside and this is clearly reflected in her rhyme scheme.  We see her attempt to search for order in her stable quatrains; however, she has failed to do so as the constant use of parahyme still reflects chaos and distress. 

-          Yet, after constant half rhyme, a full rhyme of ‘me’ and ‘see’ is found in the last stanza, providing a strong sense of conclusion.  Has she found a solution? Perhaps not, the speaker suggests that ‘the Windows failed’ and she ‘could not see to see –‘.  This maybe the implication of the speaker’s surrender.  We sense no hope in the final line of the poem. 

Similar to What mystery pervades a well, a pararhyme of ‘glass’ and ‘face’ suggests Dickinson’s fear of the ‘abyss’s face’ and the invisible entrapment of the ‘lid’

Others: the idea of unfamiliarity

-          Only ‘eyes around’, not relatives, nor friends

-          This suggests her lack of connection towards her current life – she is isolated

-          This might emphasise her fears as she intensifies her want of a better life after her current one which she does not have any connection to

-          She implikes that the ‘eyes’ have ‘wrung dry’ when she died, conveying that she has no more emotion to the people around her. 

-          This idea is furthermore elaborated as she ‘[wills]’ her ‘keepsakes’ and claims them as ‘patrons’ of her, displaying her confused state of mine due to her fear – she oddly weights objects over human beings. 

-          This sense of unfamiliarity there shows her difficulty to survive in a world by herself with no one to depend on but her ‘keepsakes’.

Likewise, in Because I could not stop for Death where she has more attachment towards the figure of ‘Death’ than the people, the ‘children’, the fields of grazing grain’ and the ‘setting sun’ in the world.  This conveys her sense of unfamiliarity.  She suggests that ‘the day’, her last day of life is fearful and ‘centuries’ in her grave ‘fears shorter than the day’. 

After Great Pain A Formal Feeling Comes - Notes #2

	Pain	Senses	Constriction/entrapment	Heaviness
AO1-Quotations to use	“After a great pain a formal feeling comes” “nerves sit ceremonious like tombs” “hour of lead” “yesterday or centuries before” “after”-the great in which he is unable to speak of.	“a great pain” “nerves sit ceremonious like tombs” “stiff heart” “yesterday-or centuries before” “hour of lead” “the feet mechanical go round” “of ground, or air, or ought” “Remember if outlived” “As freezing persons recollect the snow”	“the nerves sit...like tombs” “yesterday or centuries before” “the feet, mechanical, go round”  “like a stone” “this is the hour of lead” “the freezing persons…first chill, then stupor, then the letting go.”	“the nerves sit ceremonious like tombs” “stiff heart” “mechanical go round A wooden way” “quartz contentment, like a stone.” “this is the hour of lead”
Symbolism	The great pain can be the symbolism- there is no “I” in the poem, there is only the presence of pain which is unidentifiable or unnamed giving it a blurred uncertain state in contrast to the “tombs” and “lead” “Quartz” “Stone” which seem to be much more certain and solid. The pain is also shown through the numbness in the poem, she is so consumed in this “pain” that the poems uncomfortable to read, the feeling of NUMBNESS.	The senses themselves are symbolic, they reinforce her inability to express her pain through words (she in unable to write poetry because of this pain) the “nerves ceremonious like tombs” displays the physical embodiment of the pain crushing her body, like the pain of tomb stones crushing her at a funeral. “stiff heart” shows how in death she is still in pain.”The feet mechanical” resemble the tiresome, relentless, pain she feels.	Entrapment can be shown through the physicality of the “tombs” “lead”  “quartz” and “stone” conveying to the audience her construction through the solidity of these objects. Another symbol is time, “yesterday or centuries before” shows her entrapment is eternal and constant “hour of lead”. She is trapped by time itself, and by the pain she is unable to write poetry.	Within this poem you get the physical heaviness like the “tombs” and “lead” show the weight and depth of this poem. These symbolize her feeling of being tied down, unable to move, with the “tombs” sitting on her “stiff heart”
Structure	The Rhyme scheme is in couplets-they go –then return to show the relentless intensity of this “pain”. It is constantly switching from tetrameter, trimeter to pentameter reflecting these outburst of pain she feels. (however could it be said that this pain is a constant feeling of numbness,  in the regular pattern of quatrains)	There is no “I”, the only thing present in the poem is the “formal feeling”. The poem is literally uncomfortable to read-as the rhyme scheme switches from tetrameter  trimeter and pentameter reflecting the none speakers pain.	You could say that her entrapment is clearly shown through the regular quatrain stanza’s in which they are the boundaries in which she has written.  You could also say she is trapped at the end of the poem by the full stop which contradicts the “letting go” “.”	The “d” in “lead” phonetically weighs down the word as you read it.
Other features	“The nerves” “The stiff” are definite articles for this “pain”. “freezing persons” metaphor for  the unchangeable numbness pain she feels. A poem exploring existential despair.	This feeling of numbness is linked to the constant references to being cold or frozen, “stiff heart” “freezing persons” “first chill”. She also references the suffering of Jesus and compares it to herself “was it He that bore?”.

After a Great pain a formal feeling comes

After Great Pain A Formal Feeling Comes - Example Essay #3

“This is the Hour of Lead”

Discuss the ways in which Dickinson presents intense emotion in “After great pain, a formal feeling comes”

Throughout Dickinson’s collection of poems we see how she is constantly feeling intense emotions, where this is intense fear, like in “I heard a fly buzz,” in which we see how her fear of the fly is all consuming, which is reflected in the structure of the poem. We then see her intense joy and sense of belonging in, “My life had stood a loaded gun,” In which we see how she feels a sense of satisfaction in the knowing that she is protecting the gentleman in the poem, but the poem in which we most clearly see her over whelming emotions is in “After a great pain a formal feeling comes--“ In this particular poem we see how she feels many different emotions, which include her fear of the recurring pain within her life, which takes form in this poem as a headache. We see how she is terrified of this pain and how her life is almost like a merry-go-round that she is stuck on, and every time she passes the pain it will only be a matter of time before it comes again, and the only way for her to break this vicious cycle is death.

The central cycle of “After great pain, a formal feeling comes” is that of the intense pain Dickinson is feeling and how she will never be able to escape the pain, as she has the inability to die and so is trapped forever on the merry-go-round that is her life. “The feet, mechanical, go round,” this shows how the pain that she is experiencing is never ending, just as one section of the pain ends, and other is just insight and she will again feel the intense pain. We see how she wants to get off the “wooden way” that is her life, but she is unable, as she cannot die. We also see how she describes herself as separate from her, “The stiff Heart”, we see how her heart is unable to love anything, her heart is cold and stiff and in turn means that she is cold and stiff with the inability to love another. This could also, due to the non possessive language, be an indication that she has no control over her body, as if she is just the mind within the body that she is trapped in that is controlling her, and forcing her to continue on with her life. This again shown in “My life stood- a loaded gun” in which we see she takes the form of a gun and her “owner” is the only one that has the ability to take her out of the corner and use her. Even though in this poem we see how she is over joyed that she has the ability to protect and be used by the man, we can still see that she has no real control over her life and in turn has to be control for her to reach her full potential in life.

We see how the intense emotion of fear that she is feeling is reflected in the structure of her poem. We see how there is the general break down of standard English, an indication that the fear is impairing her ability to think straight and in correct English, “The stiff Heart” It is also clear in the words in which she uses in the second stanza, that she is in great pain, this is shown in words such as, “ought”, and “grown” which are words that have the “ow” like sound, which is again an expression of her pain and the constant discomfort that the headache is bringing to her. The use of iambic tetra and trimeter, gives the poem a lost quality as if there is something missing from the poem, as there is something missing from her life, but it could also be a indication that seeing as she has the inability to control her body and indeed her own life, that she is trying to exert power and take control over the only thing that she can, the structure, which would give an explanation for the ridged and structure of the poem. The use of enjambment in stanza three, “This is the hour of lead/ Remembered if outlived,” the lack of punctuation causes the word “lead” to become elongated and gives it a heavy quality as if it is weighing down the line. (Link back to other poem)  

It is also clear at many points during this poem that Dickinson has a fear of being trapped, “A quartz contentment, like a stone,” which gives the image of her effectively being a robot or the tin man, she is trapped by a hard exterior and she is non organic. This also reiterates her inability to die, as her mechanical existence will never be able to come to a close, she will never cease to exist. One of the other ways in which we see that Dickinson is in pain is in the way that she separates herself from the rest of her body, “The stiff Heart” Even though it is her heart that she is discussing, we see how there is a degree of separation, which could be an indication that she is trying to separate herself, her mind and her soul, away from the body that is having the pain inflicted upon it. This is also shown in the second line, “The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;” in which we see again how she is watching her own body from afar.  We again see the reoccurring image of Dickinson’s fear of her inability to die in the line, “Remembered if outlived,” we see how she does not want to outlive this, she does not want to outlive the pain, she wants to die so that she will never have to experience the pain again, she does not want to survive pain that she describes as being similar to the pain that Jesus bore, “was it He that bore?” 

After Great Pain A Formal Feeling Comes - Example Essay #2

“This is the Hour of Lead”

Discuss the ways in which Dickinson presents intense emotion in “After great pain, a formal feeling comes!”

Without reserve, Dickinson’s poems are submerged in the depths of intense emotion – from the profound depression  “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” to the vulnerability that derives from entrapment in ‘a jar’, she has invariably expressed her desperation for “Death.” Intense emotions are recurring motifs within “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died-“, “Because I could not stop for Death” and “My life had stood – a Loaded Gun”. However, it is in “After great pain a formal feeling comes” where intense emotions are prominently infused within the poem – it is the depiction of an essentially paradoxical state of mind in which one is alive but yet numb to life, both a living organism and a frozen form.

Were the “great pain” at the beginning of the poem to be considered as a means for Dickinson to present the torment she is experiencing, assuredly its inclusion of striking imageries throughout the poem would be more conspicuous. These imageries intensify the atmosphere of tremendous despondency, which is, unequivocally, found in most of her poems. The choice of word “after” implies to the readers how the poet retrieves her “formal feeling” after the ceaseless anguish; nevertheless, there is the ambiguity for the existence of “formal feeling” – it could be the delusion that is induced by abrupt demise of the previous perpetual pain. The metaphorical depiction of “nerves” as “tombs” constitutes an atmosphere of formality, as if her life is under scrutiny, even upon death. The use of the adjective, “ceremonious” connotes the idea of how every part of her, inclusive of the “nerves”, are expected to live under societal expectations; the helplessness and agony demonstrated within highlights the frustration that the society’s restraint has exerted upon her. In other way, there is also a subtle implication of how Dickinson employs the simile to signify a certain extent of self-defence. The continual agony has compelled her to alienate herself from the society and being reluctant to express any emotion as a result. Although the poem is presented in such a lack of emotions and insensibility, without reserve, the preceding intense distress that the poet has endured would be the chief determinant. Such self-estrangement and desensitisation in sentiment are accentuated through the imageries of “the stiff heart”, “the mechanical feet” and the “ stone-like quartz”, which highlight the numbness of mental and spiritual detachment. Her paradoxical mental state is revealed by the contradictive description of the “stiff heart” being able to “question”, the personification of “quartz” with “contentment” and in addition, the “mechanical feet” which epitomises the disengagement between her mind and body. These imageries are characterized by the possession of a common quality, the quality of “stiff” lifelessness; the insistence on this type of imagery is substantial in confirming the sense of numbed consciousness which is made more explicit by the statement that the feet move “mechanical(ly)” and are "regardless" of where they go. Compatibly, in my ‘My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun –“, Dickinson has dehumanised herself into a mechanical weapon, which beholds the “power to kill”, but  “without—the power to die—“, which reinforces the idea that the defence mechanism within our body allows us to carry on daily activities without conscious effort.

Within the poem, the lines are bound together, not only by the incessant reference of the imagery to the impact of melancholy, but also the fact that the poet is stating in series what happens to parts of the body: from “nerves” to “heart” to “feet”. Instead of the iambic tetrameter that is usually employed within her poem, Dickinson judiciously applies the iambic pentameter to embody the constant headache she is enduring, and thereby, hinders her from constructing proper sentence structures.  The lingering of “great pain” within herself has lead to such suppression on her emotions that the act of restraining her speech is a manifestation of confining one’s own lifestyle.  Ironically, the unconventional composition of rhyming couplets – “comes”, “tombs”, “bore”, “before” allude to the fact that the ability of self-constraint within Dickinson has been disparaged to such severity that which only agony could repress her recalcitrance. Opposing this use of rhyming patterns, in “It was not death, for I stood up”, the use of pararhyme as “down”, “noon” epitomises the disharmony in the world that which she is entrapped within, whereas “seen” and “mine” serve as a pair of regular rhyme insinuating that the solidity of rhyme is to be attained once the poet is undergoing the symbolic joy of “Death”. The prolonged stanza in the middle evinces a sense of ponderosity that is provoked by the burden of “stone” acting upon the line; the elongation in this stanza denotes the poet’s sombre mentality invigorating the faltering of speech. Moreover, the adoption of assonance with ‘ought’, ‘stone’ mimic the resonance one would predominantly affiliate with the sheer intensity of pain. Throughout the poem, the disposition of hyphenation symbolises the stuttering tone of speech and the entrapment of sensibility so as to evade from further affliction. At the end of the poem, the poet employs the simile of hypothermia to depict the stages of one’s combat with depression; “Chill” precedes the poem, whereas the "Stupor--" preoccupies it; subsequently "the letting go--" exists on the far side of its ending.

Should the deification of ‘Heart’ resemble the anamorphic state of her rationality, incontestably, the sense of detachment that is entailed within would be considered more salient. Such rupture is reiterated through the metaphorical link between the heart and “quartz”, suggesting the inorganic facet of the poet, in which no cessation can be detected, but only with the recurrent forthcoming of suffering. Reinstating this unremitting experience, Dickinson illustrates the circular movement of “the feet” “going round” and thereby typifying the lack of control in her life, even upon the notion of time. The poet’s mentality is immersed in such paralysis that the disparity between “yesterday” and “centuries” is obsolete to her. Similarly, in ‘Because I could not stop for Death”, the loss of sense of time is presented as well, yet, the difference is that the loss of rationality is caused due to the relish she experiences with “Death” - “Since then ‘tis centuries, and yet each/ Feels shorter than the day” would be the prime manifestation for this. With the employment of the definite article – “The” in coalescence with “nerves”, “heart” and “feet”, accentuate the sense of severance that which the poet holds from her organs. Correspondingly, in “I heard a Fly buzz - when I died”, “The Eyes” are deified to demonstrate a certain extent of emotional detachment; not only does it show the poet’s intimidation from people’s judgement but also her ironic capacity to affiliate more with what is objectified than people. Such apathy towards life is revealed through “ought”; she is engrossed by the omnipresent pain in which the deception of being condemned to the realms of the inferno is engendered.  “This is the hour of lead” – without question, with the symbolic imagery of “lead” being poisonous and heavy, the poet is not only highlighting her headache and its aftermath, but also emphasising the existing era that transcends the norm. The ‘chill’ that which precedes the ‘letting go’ but disconnected by the ‘stupor’ standing in the midst of such a current state of liminality, would seek to allow one to infer correlation with the reference of hypothermia from the simile ‘as freezing persons recollect the snow’ – such equates the emotionless notion of death to that of surrendering to reality.

After all, the desensitisation is nothing but merely a veil “to justify despair”.

After Great Pain A Formal Feeling Comes - Example Essay #1

“The feet, mechanical, go round”

How does Dickinson display a lack of freedom?

Throughout Dickinson’s poems we can see the recurring motif of entrapment and her lack of freedom, an example of this would be in ‘What mystery pervades a well’, in which we see the entrapment of the yonic water, by the phallic well. It is also seen in certain lines such as, ‘shaven a fitted to a frame’, in which we see how parts of her soul have been shaven away so that she can be what society wants of her, and so that she is respectable so people can watch and judge her. However the image of her lack of freedom is most clearly shown in ‘After great pain a formal feeling comes’, in which the reader see how the speaker as almost stuck on a merry-go-round, symbolic of her life, a never ending ride that she is desperate to get off of, the only escape being death.

One of the techniques that Dickinson uses to illustrate her lack of freedom is in the separation of various body parts, an example being in stanza one where we see how she refers to her heart as being, ‘The stiff Heart’. An indication that her heart is unable to love due to the fact that it is so cold, and lifeless, also due to the fact that it is identified as being separate from her we see how she has no control over it, again showing her lack of freedom and power even over her own life.  Also the way in which she is separate from her heart could also be an indication of how she has the inability to love another person and so therefore her lack of love does not allow her to interact with others around her, so she loses freedom because she cannot interact with others. We also see the separation of her body parts later on in the poem on the line, ‘The feet, mechanical, go round’. This again is an indication of how her body parts are not her own, we see how they are the ones that are in control and are forcing her to follow a path that she clearly does not want to be on. This image of the feet as mechanical also could be related to almost like a wind-up toy, they themselves really have no idea where they are going, so she is being lead to pain for no really reason, similar in ‘I heard a fly buzz’ where she is being lead to pain even though the fly itself does not really feel she needs to go to hell, the fly is referred to as ‘stumbling, between the light and me,’ a hesitant movement with no real motive behind it.

The image of her life as a ‘mechanical’ also gives the reader the image of her life as almost like a merry-go-round, she is on a continuous cycle where, as soon as one pain leaves her she knows that it is only a matter of time before the next pain comes along. This again shows how she has not control over her life, she is unable to move from the cyclical nature of her life, and so therefore must endure the pain repeatedly. This again is a reflection of her lack of power and freedom she is unable to get of the ride that is her life; she is unable to die so that she no longer endures the pain.  We also see the image later on in the poem of her being a mechanical being, ‘A quarts contentment, like a stone’. This gives the image of her as effectively a robot, a tin man, who is again unable to have any really control over her body. We also get the sense that there is someone above her controlling her every move, to make sure that she is a respectable member of the society in which she is forced to live in. We also see how she is a not organic substance, again reflecting her ‘stiff Heart’ and there is no end to the mechanical existence that she is currently livening. The image of her lack of freedom due to the her inability to die is also shown in ‘The last night that she lived’, in this poem, as well as seeing the small amount of sadness at the fact that her friend has passed, we see the large amounts of jealousy that Dickinson feels, as she is the one that wants to die, but is completely unable due to her lack of freedom to do as she wishes with her life.

The structure of the poem also reflects her lack of freedom, an example of this is the use of iambic tetra and trimeter. This strict structure reflects how she is even contained by the verses of her poetry, and also shows how she has a lack of freedom to express herself fully and be free in her writing. The way in which it is written is so regimented that she is unable, even when she is trying to express herself, to fully be free from the rules and images that society have made for her. Also we can see in her choice of words that she again has a lack of freedom, an example of this would be ‘Remembered if outlived’ we see how she longs not to survive this, she wants to break free from the merry-go-round that is her life but she is unable to due to her lack of freedom and control over her own life.  We can also see how she refers to the pain that she feels as something that should kill you, there is a large chance that you would die while experiencing it, this again shows how she feels that her pain is more that any person has felt before, how the pain that she feels should have killed her and all of this should be over, but due to the fact that she cannot die she must endure it over and over again. The use of enjambment also plays a big part in ensuring that the reader can fully see how elongated and painful her life is, ‘go round/ A wooden way’. This shows how the wooden way has been long and is never ending, shown by the unbroken sentence.

Dickinson also uses religious images to illustrate how she is trapped, we see in stanza one how she refers to the pain that she feels as equal to the pain that ‘He that bore?’ This image connects that pain she feels to the pain that Jesus felt on the cross, reflecting how, similar to Jesus, she is unable to get down of her own accord, her life is in the hands of people around her, and she has lost all control. This also gives the image of how people are willing to stand and watch her suffering, and therefore allow her suffering to continue.