Analysis Of There Is No Frigate Like A Book By Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson will infinitely be known for her powerful poetry. Her poems include her views of the world and her own beliefs. Dickinson, also, was known for her love of staying inside and reading opposed to going out and engaging with the world. Many of her poems display this love for staying inside, but she doesn’t often show her love for reading through her poetry. One of the few poems that she does though, she greatly exhibits the power of reading books. In her poem “There is no frigate like a book”, she uses similes to show the power that reading books and poetry have.
Dickinson uses simile to paint a picture of how a book can take us to far off places instantly. With this simile, she portrays her belief that “there is no frigate like …show more content…
Her belief of “how frugal is the chariot that bears a human soul” (32) compares chariots to books but in a different way than the rest of the poem. This line gives the reader the idea that a book is more frugal to “bear a human soul” than a chariot is. Frugal means inexpensive or affordable. Along with that, a chariot is a stately carriage or car for private transportation. This comparison relays the power a book has with its ability to hold the soul’s sorrows, anger, and happiness better than a chariot ever could and is even for affordable than a chariot is. This line also compares a book to a chariot in the means of transportation by stating that it is far more capable of carrying the human soul to where it needs to go better than a chariot could. As the viewer reads that line, it not only brings the new idea of a book bearing a human soul but, also, combines the ideas previously shared in this poem pertaining the frugality of reading and the speed at which a book can take someone where they want to go, whenever they want, as well. From there, it expands on the effect that books have on the soul. This book is a chariot that has the ability to take the mind and soul wherever it desires to go, despite whether or not it exists. Along with that, a book has the ability to hold a person’s mind, feelings, and experiences – their soul. The power and gift of reading are able to give the …show more content…
She does this in her poem by using similes to compare books and poetry with forms of transportation and tolls. These similes give the reader an image of how powerful books, poetry, and just reading are in a person’s life. Reading has the power to take us away to our wildest fantasies, take us on the adventures we’ve always wanted to go on, give us the life we’ve always wanted to live, and the places we’ve always wanted to