Analysis Of Two Poems By Emily

Dickinson : 1737 And 486 Essay, Research Paper

`Emily Dickinson?s poems are both fairly short

lyrical compositions conveying and even sharing the deep thoughts, feelings and

state of mind of a single speaker in a clear, informal language.? ?Rearrange a ?Wife?s? affection!? proclaims

the first verse of the poem entitled 1737, although no question mark is

present, the following line appears to answer in retaliation to the brisk

statement, ?When they dislocate my Brain!??

Tightly bound into five stanzas of equal size with the lines of the

quatrains also of a similar length, the shape of the composition contributes to

the fast delivery of her indignant repudiation for the state of

?Wifehood.?? This effect is conveyed through the repetition of

exclamation marks and the strongly suggestive rhyme and assonantal ?slant? on

the end word of each line in the first stanza, ?affection!, Brain!,

Bosom! and man!??

Dickinson?s use of five-foot iambic pentameter in this poem, is of a

similar pattern to ?everyday speech? and contributes to the upbeat pace of

reading and the readers belief that the feelings expressed are real and

true.? Moreover, her use of alliteration

heightens the tale of a painful and melodramatic passion, ?troth, taught?love,

leaped?burden ? borne,? her ?big, bandaged

secret,? a metaphor of pain, from which the only relief is ?through the grave.?

Whilst the form of poem 486 shares similarities with

1737, four stanzas divided into quatrains, the second stanza employs five

lines.? This technique helps to convey a

sense of serious thought and contemplation, ?Let me think ? I?m sure?.That this

was all ?.? These regular, but brief expressions are followed by dashes, which

highlight key phrases, such as ?live-aloud-? a stylistic devise that loosens the

stiff formality of punctuation and effects a breathlessness throughout the

verse.? Written in the first person,

?I?, the poet and speaker in poem 486 become one and the same.? Indeed, the poet dwells on her size

throughout the poem, ? I was the slightest?noteless?little.? Yet her continual

profession of smallness, does not reflect her stature, so much as her conscious

desire to be ?small? and ?slight? to play along with societies view of her

insignificance, and turning it to her own advantage.??? The poem recaptures the conditions and circumstances

of herself, as a poet, and in the second stanza she describes the advantages of

her situation. ?Inconspicuous? was what was needed ?to catch the mint/That

never ceased to fall,? she shunned ?The Racket? biding her time with ?my little

lamp, and book-? which are symbolic of her poetic tools.? Dickinson?s poem discloses the guarded and

secretive life of a persona embarrassed by the noise of a shared community,

depicting her living most enjoyably and creatively ?at night.?? In reality she did renounce the social world

for the confines of a poetic vocation in her ?small room,? reflecting her true

retreat from society.? Death is a

recurring theme in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and it is in this vein that

both of the poems end.? The ?Weary

Keeper? of ?my secret? takes it to her grave in 1737, whilst in 486, she ?could

die,? as the poem tells us she has lived, ?noteless? and without

significance.? Ironically Emily

Dickinson only received public recognition and acclaim for her poetry, in the

main, following her death. ???????????