“Dickinson is a unique poet characterised by her unusual style and interesting view of the
world.”
One of the first things that strikes any reader when they look at a Dickinson poem is the unique way
it announces itself on the page. My first thought when studying her poetry can best be described
through a quote from Dickinson herself – “Here’s freedom”. While this phrase was used by Dickinson
to describe the freedom she felt in her room in Amherst I felt there was a real sense of freedom in
her poetry as she cast off the rules of punctuation and grammar to express her ideas. And it is these
ideas and the view of the world that she brought to her poetry a really spoke to me as I read her
poetry. It is an intense view of the world, full of joy and horror. What also interested me was how
this world was not just outside her window in Amherst in the 1800’s but the more complex world of
her inner thoughts. I found this fascinating as I got a real insight into Dickinson’s world and her mind.
The poems I have studied are ‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain’, ‘A Bird Came Down the Walk’, ‘Hope is
the Thing with Feathers’,
What is it about her style that I found unique and unusual? The most obvious characteristics of her
style are her use of the dash and capital letters. When I first read her poetry I was intrigued how she
used the dash to create a pause for thought. It made me realize there can be so much more to
poetry than just words and phrases she used. The dash creates such drama in I felt a Funeral, in my
Brain when we read the line “kept beating- beating- til I thought my mind was going numb”. The
powerful dash really emphasizes the beating and the anguish she was going through. In the same
poem if you look at many of the words which have capital letters; Funeral, Brain, Mourners, Sense,
Box, Soul it really helps the reader to understand the theme of the poem and also contributes to the
oppressive and sinking atmosphere of the poem.
What I found most interesting and unique about her style was how she used concrete and literal
images to explain human emotions and conditions. Her use of a funeral service to describe mental
and emotional breakdown was very unusual but very appropriate. The image of the mourners “lift a
Box and creak across my Soul” and “then a Plank in Reason broke” is a very unique and visual way of
describing this mental breakdown. In stark contrast to these depressing images her comparison of
hope to a bird in Hope is the thing with Feathers could not be more simple or appropriate. The idea
of hope being a bird “that sings the tune without the words- And never stops- at all” is a very
positive and uplifting image, but most importantly one that shows how clever Dickinson was at
taking an abstract idea and making it realistic for the reader.
Perhaps the most unique set of images that she used was where she compared being drunk with
the joy she got from the beauty of nature. When I first read it I was immediately struck by how
unusual this comparison was, especially when you think of the Puritan world that she lived in. What
a clever comparison to make. On one hand easy to understand, but on the other rebellious and
unique. Even in today’s world drunkenness is seen as something to be shunned and ashamed of.
Dickinson subverts this idea and produces a poem with great optimism and an intense feeling of
happiness.
Another unusual thing about her poetry was the intensity and drama in each of her poems. Through
her imagery, and use of verbs in particular she managed to create real drama and intense emotion in
each of the poems I studied. I really enjoyed how she built up the drama of the moment in A bird
world.”
One of the first things that strikes any reader when they look at a Dickinson poem is the unique way
it announces itself on the page. My first thought when studying her poetry can best be described
through a quote from Dickinson herself – “Here’s freedom”. While this phrase was used by Dickinson
to describe the freedom she felt in her room in Amherst I felt there was a real sense of freedom in
her poetry as she cast off the rules of punctuation and grammar to express her ideas. And it is these
ideas and the view of the world that she brought to her poetry a really spoke to me as I read her
poetry. It is an intense view of the world, full of joy and horror. What also interested me was how
this world was not just outside her window in Amherst in the 1800’s but the more complex world of
her inner thoughts. I found this fascinating as I got a real insight into Dickinson’s world and her mind.
The poems I have studied are ‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain’, ‘A Bird Came Down the Walk’, ‘Hope is
the Thing with Feathers’,
What is it about her style that I found unique and unusual? The most obvious characteristics of her
style are her use of the dash and capital letters. When I first read her poetry I was intrigued how she
used the dash to create a pause for thought. It made me realize there can be so much more to
poetry than just words and phrases she used. The dash creates such drama in I felt a Funeral, in my
Brain when we read the line “kept beating- beating- til I thought my mind was going numb”. The
powerful dash really emphasizes the beating and the anguish she was going through. In the same
poem if you look at many of the words which have capital letters; Funeral, Brain, Mourners, Sense,
Box, Soul it really helps the reader to understand the theme of the poem and also contributes to the
oppressive and sinking atmosphere of the poem.
What I found most interesting and unique about her style was how she used concrete and literal
images to explain human emotions and conditions. Her use of a funeral service to describe mental
and emotional breakdown was very unusual but very appropriate. The image of the mourners “lift a
Box and creak across my Soul” and “then a Plank in Reason broke” is a very unique and visual way of
describing this mental breakdown. In stark contrast to these depressing images her comparison of
hope to a bird in Hope is the thing with Feathers could not be more simple or appropriate. The idea
of hope being a bird “that sings the tune without the words- And never stops- at all” is a very
positive and uplifting image, but most importantly one that shows how clever Dickinson was at
taking an abstract idea and making it realistic for the reader.
Perhaps the most unique set of images that she used was where she compared being drunk with
the joy she got from the beauty of nature. When I first read it I was immediately struck by how
unusual this comparison was, especially when you think of the Puritan world that she lived in. What
a clever comparison to make. On one hand easy to understand, but on the other rebellious and
unique. Even in today’s world drunkenness is seen as something to be shunned and ashamed of.
Dickinson subverts this idea and produces a poem with great optimism and an intense feeling of
happiness.
Another unusual thing about her poetry was the intensity and drama in each of her poems. Through
her imagery, and use of verbs in particular she managed to create real drama and intense emotion in
each of the poems I studied. I really enjoyed how she built up the drama of the moment in A bird
