It Was Not Death For I Stood Up - Essay Plan on 'Intense Emotions'

“As if my life were shaven,

            And fitted to a frame”

Discuss ways in which Dickinson presents intense emotions in ‘It was not Death’.

Introduction

Intense emotions are important to the work of Dickinson. We see this in the poem ‘I heard a Fly buzz – when I died’ where the “Fly” causes the speaker to suffer ultimate panic as a result of their fear. Intense emotions are also seen in the poem ‘After great pain a formal feeling comes’ where the headache “go[es] round” and so the pain never comes to an end. However, it is in ‘It was not Death, for I stood up’ that we see the most clear depiction of intense emotions in Dickinson’s work. The poem explores the sadness felt by the speaker as a result of not dying, but instead having to suffer in entrapment and be “shaven”.

Symbol

‘It was not Death’

-          fearful of being entrapped – over takes her – “fitted to a frame” – capture and hiding from society – fearful of being trapped

-          intense emotions – seen through pathetic fallacy – “grisly frosts” – danger coming – possibly death

-          capture prevents her dying – “all the dead lie down” – her ultimate goal – death will provide happiness – depressed

‘There’s a certain slant of light’

-          “Heavenly hurt” – light brings upon pain – likewise entraps – she is afraid of it – light should be positive but makes her feel sad – deified emphasising the pain

Structure

‘It was not Death’

-          “marble feet” – further preventing escape – weighs down the line – disharmony of her world reflected

-          shorter lines – something missing – speaker not telling the reader everything – could be due to fear – embeds a sense of loss through each alternating line being short

-          solid rhyme – emphasises death is happiness – around” “ground” – desire to be dead

‘I heard a Fly buzz’

-          in comparison – lack of structure as a result of pain – fearful of the fly – wants to reach heaven

-          restricted verse form as stuck and trapped by the fly

Other

‘It was not Death’

-          use of synaesthesia – “tasted like them all” – strong depression – she feels things she shouldn't – infecting her mouth – yet it can’t be tasted – her emotions are mixed

-          repetition – “And” – longing to the audience to escape capture and die to be happy – listing out her suffering – anaphora – panic of not dying

‘One need not be a Chamber’

-          “gallop” – metaphor for a gentleman on horseback – taking the speaker to a place where their emotions aren't present – hope and happiness replace these

Conclusion

Ultimately, intense emotions are crucial to Dickinson’s work. In ‘After great pain a formal feeling comes’, though the headache is still present and so causing pain, happiness is felt as the speaker enters the “hour of lead”, symbolising the aftermath and the pain becoming a bearable emotion. But it is in ‘It was not Death, for I stood up’ where we see the most effective use of intense emotions. Through the speaker being “fitted to a frame”, not only are they physically trapped, but their emotions and captured and so making it impossible for the speaker to feel anything but pain.