Journal for Dickinson (pt.1-E.C.)

Francesca Cricchio
Journal for Dickinson
English 48B
March, 2011

“Rowing in Eden-
Ah- the Sea!
Might I but moor- tonight-
In thee!” (Lines 9-12, pg. 82, poem 269)

“Dickinson's poetry reflects her loneliness and the speakers of her poems generally live in a state of want, but her poems are also marked by the intimate recollection of inspirational moments which are decidedly life-giving and suggest the possibility of happiness.” (Bio of Dickinson from Poets.org)

Pages 74-84 consist of quick poems written by the great Emily Dickinson. They are all short lines with meticulously placed punctuation, and randomly capitalized words. The poems themes range anywhere from religion to love, to death, confinement, and nature (and its abstractness). Her literary composition is unique in itself, and the language within her work leaves plenty up to the imagination.

I really enjoyed reading Dickinson’s work because of the way it was arranged. The poems are extremely short, and usually that makes them hard to understand, but Dickinson uses such great language that the poetry leaves enough for the reader to come up with a range of different interpretations. Her vagueness is an advantage because there is no real concrete idea in any of her poems. Yes, some most definitely revolve around love or religion. But what exactly is Dickinson saying about love or religion? ...The answer is...there is no answer! And that is what makes her so amazing. Every day a anew theory can be hypothesized about any of her hundreds of poems. And every day something new can arise from just a few lines!