According to Dickinson ‘We meet no stranger but ourself’. It is the time that we spend alone that allows us as humans to reflect most on who we are and what we want to achieve in this world. Only in silence can one truly sit and focus only on him or herself, away from the noise of the outside world and its conventions. This essay will discuss the concept of identity in relation to the poet herself and her poetry. In doing this the essay will further include discussion on the historical context in which she wrote and the Romantic Era which informed her writing. Examples from her poetry will also be used.
As the Dickinson parents were greatly involved in the political scene, Emily and her siblings grew up with values centred around politics …show more content…
Her silence paves the way to improve her creativity which is the sign of those people who reach self-actualization. In her poems one is able to find the subject of identity and actualize it. Self-actualized people are fully aware of what is going on in their internal world and what is going on in their external world. Dickinson was a person who was aware of her inside and outside world as well. Dickinson views freedom as wealth and those people who do not search for freedom as people who are extremely poor. In her poem ‘hope is the thing with feathers’, Emily personifies hope as a bird that “sings a tune”, “perches” and is “the thing with feathers”. She uses natural imagery to discuss hope and difficulties in life, the contrast between the warmth of the bird and the chilliest land could represent how she has found comfort and warmth in knowing her inner-self despite the coldness of the outside. The imagery of the bird suggests the promise of freedom; although it may seem fragile it is extremely resilient, found everywhere and doesn’t stop singing “at all”. This could represent the realisation of one’s soul and how free one may become once they have become aware of their soul which is eternal, resilient and never stops …show more content…
With her imagery, wisdom, and questioning of life’s meanings, she forever left her mark on literature. Throughout her life, she published very few poems, but after Emily’s death, her sister, Lavinia, found her old collections of work. Lavinia took Emily’s poetry to a friend and publisher, and with some hesitance, the first compilation of Dickinson’s work was published in 1890. To her publisher’s surprise, the first volume became very popular, and more volumes would be published in the years to come as word of Dickinson’s magnificent works of poetry spread throughout
As the Dickinson parents were greatly involved in the political scene, Emily and her siblings grew up with values centred around politics …show more content…
Her silence paves the way to improve her creativity which is the sign of those people who reach self-actualization. In her poems one is able to find the subject of identity and actualize it. Self-actualized people are fully aware of what is going on in their internal world and what is going on in their external world. Dickinson was a person who was aware of her inside and outside world as well. Dickinson views freedom as wealth and those people who do not search for freedom as people who are extremely poor. In her poem ‘hope is the thing with feathers’, Emily personifies hope as a bird that “sings a tune”, “perches” and is “the thing with feathers”. She uses natural imagery to discuss hope and difficulties in life, the contrast between the warmth of the bird and the chilliest land could represent how she has found comfort and warmth in knowing her inner-self despite the coldness of the outside. The imagery of the bird suggests the promise of freedom; although it may seem fragile it is extremely resilient, found everywhere and doesn’t stop singing “at all”. This could represent the realisation of one’s soul and how free one may become once they have become aware of their soul which is eternal, resilient and never stops …show more content…
With her imagery, wisdom, and questioning of life’s meanings, she forever left her mark on literature. Throughout her life, she published very few poems, but after Emily’s death, her sister, Lavinia, found her old collections of work. Lavinia took Emily’s poetry to a friend and publisher, and with some hesitance, the first compilation of Dickinson’s work was published in 1890. To her publisher’s surprise, the first volume became very popular, and more volumes would be published in the years to come as word of Dickinson’s magnificent works of poetry spread throughout