Emily Dickinson’s
poetic work contains different descriptions of death that encompass
emotional responses to the body’s and/or soul’s journey into eternity,
madness, or nothingness. Her poems’ greatness comes from the elaborate
use of literary techniques to give shape to death, and the ambiguity of
meaning that allows different interpretations of these journeys. Even
though the ideas presented by Dickinson may seem contradictory at times,
they all emphasize her idea that there are many types of deaths.
“I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died”
presents a vision of death in which there is no afterlife as it focuses
on the putrefaction that occurs after the death of the poet herself, a
process that, according to the poem, leads to nothingness. Depending on
the interpretation, the tone could be of paralytic fear, serenity or
apathetic lethargy; Dickinson uses the atmosphere to reflect the decay
of the body and the emptiness of death (Jensen, David). Surrounding the
dead body there is total silence because people have ceased to cry and
the wind has stopped blowing. Death seems to be expected, as the poet
had made a testament before ceasing to be: “I willed my Keepsakes – Signed away/ What portion of me be/ Assignable” (Dickinson, 9).The
fly that approaches the decaying body represents all the animals that
will continue the cycle of life by eating from the body. Finally, at the
end of the poem, the windows of the soul, which could be interpreted as
the eyes, fail and the soul dies. There seems to be a moment between
the instant of the physical death itself and the actual journey to
nothingness. In the first verse of the poem, the poetic narrator has
already died. However, the windows do not fail until the last line of
the poem. This instant seems to be of uncertainty: the narrator has not
lost consciousness of her surroundings but her awareness is decreasing.
Even though death can be understood as a negative experience, I
interpret that in this poem it is presented as a liberating journey and,
even though there seems to be no afterlife, the poem paradoxically
presents death as a natural process that contributes to the continuation
of life in other forms.
The literary techniques help emphasize
the idea of death. There is a constant repetition reminding us of the
fly. In addition, diction also contributes to the ambiguity of the
meaning. For example, critic David Jensen argues that in the lines “For
the last Onset – when the King/ Be witnessed – in the Room- “, the word
King can be interpreted as Christ, or also as the Lord of the Flies
(Jensen, 3). Both interpretations are valid, as Jensen states. Christ,
in Christian theology, will take the soul to another life, while the
Lord of the Flies, an allusion to Be’elzebub, also very present in
Judeo-Christian mythology, is the one expected to remove the soul from
the body of the deceased. In addition, the imagery subtly reinforces the
meaning. For example, based on the Oxford English Dictionary, the use
of the word blue at the end of the poem can be interpreted as sad and
depressed, but also as fear and panic. There is also ambiguity in other
instances of the poem; the reader can well interpret that when the
narrator stops hearing noises and feeling the wind it is not because
they have ceased but rather because there has been deterioration in the
perception. Finally, the rhyme and rhythm emphasize words at the end of
the lines, such as be, fly, me and see which are key words in
understanding the poem.
A contrasting vision of death appears in Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death –.”
Here, death is presented as a journey towards eternity. The poem
depicts a vision of an afterlife, where the individual transcends and
goes to a space where time seems not to exist. This is Dickinson’s
romantic view of death. The poet personifies death as someone who is
civil, patient, and respectful, and who gives rides to people. After
Death stops for a busy poetic narrator who had no time to think about
death, they start a journey together towards eternity, passing through
places that symbolize different stages of her life; a school,
representing youth and education, the fields of grain, which represent
maturity, and a setting sun, representing old age. Ambiguity also plays
an important role in this poem: the allusion to the school could also be
interpreted as if the narrator and Death were passing by the school to
pick a child who had died; and when the poet says, “We passed the setting sun,”
the setting sun could mean that the poetic narrator skipped old age.
The last stop in the journey was a cemetery, where the corpse is left.
Finally, the poet and Death transcend and go to eternity; a state in
which time is imperceptible and we can deduce that there is peace.
Poetic techniques are employed along the
poem to create images in the reader’s mind and strengthen this
interpretation of death. The description of the grave is very powerful,
and it supports the idea that it is only a temporary place. By comparing
it to a house it provides a coziness that does not create repulsion to a
place that otherwise can have a negative connotation. The description
of the coldness felt before leaving the corpse is also very powerful,
and emphasizes the coldness of the body after death. Finally, the
relativity of time and the description of a peaceful destination provide
the reader with a feeling of expectancy to reach that place. The horses
in the last stanza can represent several things according to the A Dictionary of Literary Symbols.
According to Plato, for instance, horses are a simile of the soul. In
addition, horses represent travel, which goes well with the meaning of
the poem. In addition, in Greek mythology, the horse Pegasus flew to
heaven, which could be interpreted as an allusion made in the poem.
Finally, the choice of words is very elaborate, and the rhyme helps
emphasize words that have an important meaning in the poem.
Another divergent interpretation of death is presented by Emily Dickinson in “I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain.” This
poem depicts an internal death rather than a physical one: the descent
of a human being into insanity. Once again, the reader can interpret
that in the poem, Dickinson is talking about her own death. Even though
this process is described as a real funeral, all the events are parallel
to what seems her emotional death. Initially, her mind becomes numb,
and she hears insignificant sounds until a bell starts to toll.
Afterwards, a feeling of solitude and silence floods her. Finally, she
feels as if she were in a boat where a plank breaks and she falls down
and hits a world. This poem shows Dickinson’s belief that an individual
can die many times and that the physical death is not the only type of
death, nor the worst.
The constant reference to repetitive
sounds that torment the poetic narrator helps emphasize the pain,
anguish and the disturbing hyperesthesia that she is going through.
Among these are the treading of the mourners with lead boots, and the
constant beat of the drum and tolling of the bell. In addition, silence
is personified and is accompanying her in her wreck and solitude; an
image that stresses her feeling of disconnection with the world.
Finally, the image of a shipwreck is used to compare reason to a plank
of wood that breaks due to excessive strain. The image concludes when
the poet falls repeatedly from space and every time she falls, she hits a
world. The psychic outbreak seems to be infinite, but the reader can
interpret that she understood what the definition of death through her
own experience.
Emily Dickinson’s selected poems offer a
varied repertoire of her apparent contradictory views of death. The
clashing interpretations of death are accompanied by an elaborate use of
literary techniques. Each poem reflects a different type of journey,
and there is an implicit invitation to the reader to choose which
definition of death goes better with his/her set of beliefs.
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