I Dwell In Possibilities Poem Analysis

Translation always seems to get the best of its readers. More often than not translation is an efficient way to get a message, thought, or story across. It enables individuals to understand and communicate across the globe without having to necessarily be “fluent” in that specific language. Although it is useful in day to day language, it can also hinder the meaning or message that one is trying to convey. Like a current in the ocean, conversation can go from one direction to a complete opposite in seconds if it is being translated improperly. Needless to say it is nearly impossible to translate something as simple as a sentence verbatim and still get the same meaning that it held in its original text. With that being said poetry, something that is constantly using aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language, can never accurately be translated for there is too much meaning behind not only each phrase but every word. Emily Dickinson, one of many well known poets, wrote a poem I Dwell in Possibilities, which touched upon this matter of poetry versus prose; …show more content…
An attempt at a prose translation of stanza one would sound as followed, my love is like a red rose that smells good. Simply put it loses all its value and charismatic qualities. Without its poetic building block, stanza one becomes empty, lacking in all the areas that it once had when being written in poetry. Its rhythmic pattern and play on words, when written in poetic form, emphasize on how strong the poet 's love is. The stressed followed by an unstressed syllable change the way in which a reader would read the poem; this contributes to what emphasis is put on which word. Emphasis is a crucial part of poetry because more often than not it is what tells the reader what the “subject” or “main idea” of the poem