Pain is a reoccurringtheme in the poetry of Emily Dickinson. In ‘ There is a certain slant of light’, Dickinson presents an internal pain which cultivates into death itself, throughforms of light and winter.
As with many of Dickinson’s poetry, the speakerappears to Pain throughnature The firststanza of the poem opens with the image of a ‘ certain slant of light’ which atfirst glance may set an optimistic and positive tone to the poem due to theconnotations of life and vitality. The motif of light in Dickinson’s poetry hasbeen used to show its effect on the seasons as in ‘ A Light Exists in Spring’1and in retaining acloseness to god in _____, however, in this poem it is employed toestablish a setting of ‘ winter afternoons’, creating a sombre tone for thepoem. Dickinson’s use of pathetic fallacy in the opening stanza of the poemcreates a cold impression with winter being associated as the most extreme ofthe seasons, with the hibernation of animals and the decay of nature. It seemsfitting that the winter ‘ oppresses’ the speaker as with nature, with the ‘ Landscape’being personified even though it is bleak.
The light ultimately causes pain forthe speaker, and as the poem progresses becomes a metaphor for an internal struggle, an ‘ imperial affliction’ which is oxymoronic within itself showing the Painthrough religion However, the speaker potentially finds religion oppressive stating ‘ like the Heft ofCathedral Tunes’ with Heft suggesting something heavy, reinforcing the’oppressive’ nature of them. Dickinson was raised in a Puritan family and insurroundings that were ‘ largely conventionally Christian’ 2, which in turn created herown view on faith. She found it hard to connect fully with her Christian faith, which proved a great difficulty in the time of the Great Revival. The battle offinding faith is shown within the poem with the use of hyphens, as they createa disjointed sense.
The use of the hyphens within “ Shadows- hold their breath-“ reinforces the personification of the ‘ shadows’ as it replicates the sound ofthem holding their breath. Theidea of religion being oppressive is continued into the second stanza with the simile’Heavenly Hurt’. 1A Light Exists In Spring –Emily Dickinson 2http://www. tandfonline. com/doi/abs/10. 1080/00393276208587268 – The Theme of Death in EmilyDickinson’s poetry