Emily Dickinson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Emily Dickinson - Essay ExampleThe emphasis is on spontaneity, and the original. (Harvey, 1997). Emily Dickinson (1830 1886), is one of nigh prolific and successful poets of the American Romantic Movement. Her work challenges the existing norms of that period, rejects convention, and establishes a new genre. The unique order, unusual punctuation and spelling choices of her poems reflect the new sprightliness of Romanticism (Poetry Foundation, 2012). The poetry of Emily Dickinson may be taken to be the epitome of American Romantic literature, with its focus on nature, individualism, and the exploration of faith. Dickinsons nature poems gift up a large part of her work. They deal with almost all aspects of nature birds, animals, bees, flowers, grass, rain, forests, hills, the seasons, sunrise and sunset. Her poems throb with her love for Nature. It is evident that she finds great joy in her closeness with the natural world. The depth of her observation is incredible. The least minu tiae of life is seen and explored by Dickinson and linked with her personal emotions. She simply thrills in natures beauty. At other times, she makes a connection between nature and human life. In her poem, It Sifts From Leaden Sieves, (Poets.org. 311), Dickinson is content to describe Natures beauty. She makes effective use of metaphor the fleshy sieves refer to overcast skies. ... The poet goes on to express her desire to be a part of nature, by offering the bird a crumb. But the bird is excite of her advance, and flies away. Here, Dickinson shows that man cannot be a part of nature, unlike the bird, which unites with nature. The poets evident love for nature is one of the hallmarks of American Romantic literature. Another run around which marks Dickinson as a Romantic is her unbending individualism. Contrary to the social expectations regarding women of that period, Dickinson disliked housework and the daily rounds of receiving and paying visits (Poetry Foundation, 2012). In line with this pronounced individualism, Dickinson withdrew from man life. This is seen in the fact that, By the 1860s, Dickinson lived in almost total physical isolation from the outside world (Poets org. 2012). Her poems were largely a part of her private understanding with friends, and were published only after her death. Most of her poems demonstrate her own personal emotions. She sees the world around her through a personal lens. Dickinsons poem, Im Nobody Who Are You? (Poets org. 260), demonstrates her alienation from society. She criticizes the people who belong to the pretentious public world, and is happy to be apart from them, in her own private identity. Dickinson holds the Romantic opinon, turnaround to common thinking, that mans closeness to nature is hindered by the effects of civilization. This is seen in her poem, I Like to See it Lap the Miles, (Poets org. 43), where she compares the train to a horse. She is searing of the industrial invasion of the natural worl d by the railroad. Dickinsons subjective perception of the world is very much a feature of Romantic literature.