Upon first glance, the only apparent similarity between Emily Dickinson’s “A Light Exists in Spring” and E.E. Cummings’ “Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand” is that both poems contain the word “spring” in their title. Dickinson composes in a strict meter and rhyme scheme while Cummings has little to no structure to his poem. “A Light exists in Spring,” although ostensibly one of Dickinson’s nature poems, makes this experience of nature a rather religious one. At the same time, “Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand” has no religious context, instead seeking to express the idea of nature perpetually changing. However, both Dickinson and Cummings effectively convey their perception of spring primarily through the use of figurative language including, but
…show more content…
The speaker likens the light that exists in spring to a divine presence. It is an especially fitting metaphor as spring is often considered the time for rebirth and renewal in religious contexts. The religious symbolism is further strengthened by the assertion in the poem that “science cannot overtake” this light. Generally it is divine experiences that cannot be explained by science but are rather an innate human understanding, as expressed in the line “Human Nature feels.” The speaker contends that this light is still fully real and able to be experienced. This light—this divine presence—stands “on solitary fields” as it is not something that comes upon a person when they are surrounded by others, but only in the lonely parts of the natural world, like the solitary experience of gaining belief. There is also something communal in the light, however, just as in religion, as shown by the speaker’s use of the second person, as well as the use of the word “we” later in the poem. Yet just as with sunlight during a spring day, this light cannot stay. Without this light, the world is as though “trade had suddenly encroached upon a sacrament” because trade, or business, encroaching on the sacrament would strip it of its divinity, as the loss of this light
The speaker likens the light that exists in spring to a divine presence. It is an especially fitting metaphor as spring is often considered the time for rebirth and renewal in religious contexts. The religious symbolism is further strengthened by the assertion in the poem that “science cannot overtake” this light. Generally it is divine experiences that cannot be explained by science but are rather an innate human understanding, as expressed in the line “Human Nature feels.” The speaker contends that this light is still fully real and able to be experienced. This light—this divine presence—stands “on solitary fields” as it is not something that comes upon a person when they are surrounded by others, but only in the lonely parts of the natural world, like the solitary experience of gaining belief. There is also something communal in the light, however, just as in religion, as shown by the speaker’s use of the second person, as well as the use of the word “we” later in the poem. Yet just as with sunlight during a spring day, this light cannot stay. Without this light, the world is as though “trade had suddenly encroached upon a sacrament” because trade, or business, encroaching on the sacrament would strip it of its divinity, as the loss of this light