Notes on emily dickinson poems

Notes on Emily Dickinson Poems This is my letter to the world Theme- nature holds beauty, truth, love Speaker — nature lover, poet Imagery/ Symbols — hands = people of the world Figurative Lang. — metaphor letter = poem, personification (world cannot write to her) Sound Device — slant rhyme — world and told, dashes — pauses for effect Structure — 2 quatrains Tone — hopeful Mood – hopeful Hope is a thing with feathers Theme — hope endures, hope sustains us through life’s hardships Figurative Lang — metaphor bird = hope, gale = life’s hardships Sound Devices — slant rhyme — soul/all, dashes for pauses, some rhyme, alliteration, rhythm Imagery/Symbols — gale/storm = hardships, bird = hope, chill, warm, songs all appeal to senses Structure — 3 quatrains Tone — happy, joyful Mood — hopeful, gladness Success is counted sweetest Theme — victory is sweet when it rarely comes, it is appreciated more fully is you do not experience it often Figurative Lang. — metaphor victory is success, nectar = victory, extended metaphor — soldier dying but discovering that his side won the war (analogy) Imagery/Symbols — nectar = success, purple host, strains of triumph appeal to Senses, flag = victory Sound Devices — alliteration, dashes (caesura), rhythm, rhyme Structure — 3 quatrains Tone — matter of fact, detached Mood — agreement Much Madness is divine Sense Theme — The majority decides what is acceptable (Sense and craziness are relative) Figurative Lang — paradox — madness = sense, sense = madness Imagery/Symbolism — chain = shunned Sound Devices — alliteration (Much madness), rhyme sane/chain, slant rhyme sense/madness, and dashes. Structure — 1 Octave Tone — informative, disgusted Mood — reflective, thoughtful (resentment towards society) My Life Closed Twice Theme — death is a part of life, we are all touched by the deaths of people we know Fig. Lang — Life closing = death, paradox life closing is heaven and hell Imagery/Symbols — Sound Devices — rhyme, dashes Structure — 2 quatrains Tone — detached, matter of fact Mood — depressed After great pain a formal feeling comes Theme — grief comes in stages Fig. Lang. — alliteration, simile nerves …sit like tombs Imagery/Symbolism — chill = shock, stupor = confusion do not want to accept the news, letting go = grieving (crying) Sound Devices — alliteration Structure —2 quatrains and 1 cinquain Tone — resigned Mood – melancholy