These Are The Days When Birds Come Back Analysis

Dickinson writes a poem named These are the days when birds come back, this title is unfitting of the meaning of the poem. Yes, the birds are important to finding the true meaning, but they are not directly associated with the meaning. Dickinson uses the changing of seasons and religious analogies to describe the cycle of life and her unwillingness to accept the changing of time. In the first stanza Dickinson writes (1) “These are the days when the birds comeback.” I believe this statement is directly related to the Indian summer. The Indian summer indicates deceiving weather that is often confused with the changing of seasons. (2) The confusion would cause “a very few” birds to migrate back because they believe the seasons are changing. Although …show more content…
The next two lines (8-9) in the third stanza stress although the birds were tricked during the Indian summer Dickenson was not, she was “almost” tricked. The use of the word “belief” in the final line of the third stanza introduces us to the religious part of the poem. The fourth stanza leads with a religious term (10) “bear witness,” the seeds bear witness meaning that the year is ending, meaning the beginning of winter, but the seed symbolizes rebirth. (11-12) The “altered air” in the next line of the poem refers to the realization that the seasons have changed and the “timid leaf” is associated to Dickinson and her fear of change, the falling leaf could also symbolize death. (13) “Sacrament” is a religious term and she is using it to invite the reader to a type of celebration for the end of the summer days, so the reader can experience the sad but joyful day as she watches the seasons change. (14) “Oh last Communion in the haze,” communion is also a religious term. The “haze” is referring to the atmospheric changes of two different seasons colliding, it also shows how Dickinson sees the collision of the two seasons. Haze typically has a negative connotation to it, and Dickinson describing the appearance of the season change as a haze shows that she sees it as a negative change. (15) “permit a child to join,” could refer to joining in praise of the Divine. (16) “Thy sacred emblems to partake,” in this line the sacred emblems are the bees, birds, seeds, and the falling leaves. Using the word sacred gives the emblems a religious connotation, in some religions bees are a symbol for God and the birds are sometimes a symbol for the Holy Spirit. The seeds and the falling leaves are a type of