While reading Emily Dickinson’s “After Great Pain,” the reader may assume from the title that she expresses feelings that are present after something painful has occurred, which is death. Hirschhorn clarifies that she wrote several poems about death because of her religion. Her religion focused on being aware of death because of how easy it was to die by accident or illness in that time period. To enhance the tone of the poem, Dickinson uses detailed diction to help express her emotions throughout. Edgar Allen Poe also writes about a death in his short story, “The Tale-Tell Heart.” The story is about a murder, with the insane murderer being the narrator. Poe created this story to demonstrate his composition theory, which means that short stories
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Dickinson has hidden messages in each line. Editors of Shmoop make it easier to comprehend how she uses strong words such as “formal” and “ceremonious,” for example, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes” (line 1). Great pain is normal after a death and formal more reveals that a death has occurred because funerals are formal. These are strong, detailed words that provide a lot of information while paraphrasing. “The nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs” (2). Tombs don’t have a feeling, which reveals that one sits during the ceremony with no feeling. She also mentions the feeling of numbness. This could also be a relation to the simile “like tombs” because they have no feeling and when someone feels numb he has no feeling. The reader has to thoroughly read each line to understand the meaning that Dickinson provides. On the other hand, Poe initially states the feeling of the narrator, “nervous-very dreadfully nervous I had been and am” (Par. 1). He uses detailed words quote that are straight to the point, which reveals the tone without carefully analyzing. It is easy to notice how their word choice differs. “I loved the old man” (2). Poe once again openly expresses the narrator’s emotions, while still keeping the reader interested with the intense, mysterious mood. Dickinson uses the word “stiff” (3) as a form of visual context for an image of the heart. Poe uses simple …show more content…
While Dickinson’s words prove the feelings of sorrow and sadness, Poe’s words prove the feelings of guilt and worry. Dickinson states, “This is the hour of lead” (10). In other words, this must mean “The time of darkness.” Poe states “dead hour of the night” (10). These very similar, yet opposite statements are very ironic. They both end in darkness, but they both experience different emotions for the cause of their darkness. Dickinson is stating that it is over and it is time for departing. Poe is stating that this is what he has worked for. Both have experienced death at these points, but they have two completely opposite feelings about their own situations. In conclusion, the writers are both unique in many opposite ways. Because of Dickinson’s background, her writing consists of sadness in death. Poe differs because while he is writing, he wants to share a theory. They both have short writing styles with the ability to express so much emotion. They both also provide different levels of details to help reveal the tone in both the poem and the short story. Using detailed diction, they both create an image for their readers. Although both have different writing skills, their text holds very meaningful words and messages that help complete the meaning as a
Dickinson has hidden messages in each line. Editors of Shmoop make it easier to comprehend how she uses strong words such as “formal” and “ceremonious,” for example, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes” (line 1). Great pain is normal after a death and formal more reveals that a death has occurred because funerals are formal. These are strong, detailed words that provide a lot of information while paraphrasing. “The nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs” (2). Tombs don’t have a feeling, which reveals that one sits during the ceremony with no feeling. She also mentions the feeling of numbness. This could also be a relation to the simile “like tombs” because they have no feeling and when someone feels numb he has no feeling. The reader has to thoroughly read each line to understand the meaning that Dickinson provides. On the other hand, Poe initially states the feeling of the narrator, “nervous-very dreadfully nervous I had been and am” (Par. 1). He uses detailed words quote that are straight to the point, which reveals the tone without carefully analyzing. It is easy to notice how their word choice differs. “I loved the old man” (2). Poe once again openly expresses the narrator’s emotions, while still keeping the reader interested with the intense, mysterious mood. Dickinson uses the word “stiff” (3) as a form of visual context for an image of the heart. Poe uses simple …show more content…
While Dickinson’s words prove the feelings of sorrow and sadness, Poe’s words prove the feelings of guilt and worry. Dickinson states, “This is the hour of lead” (10). In other words, this must mean “The time of darkness.” Poe states “dead hour of the night” (10). These very similar, yet opposite statements are very ironic. They both end in darkness, but they both experience different emotions for the cause of their darkness. Dickinson is stating that it is over and it is time for departing. Poe is stating that this is what he has worked for. Both have experienced death at these points, but they have two completely opposite feelings about their own situations. In conclusion, the writers are both unique in many opposite ways. Because of Dickinson’s background, her writing consists of sadness in death. Poe differs because while he is writing, he wants to share a theory. They both have short writing styles with the ability to express so much emotion. They both also provide different levels of details to help reveal the tone in both the poem and the short story. Using detailed diction, they both create an image for their readers. Although both have different writing skills, their text holds very meaningful words and messages that help complete the meaning as a