I Know that He Exists.

I know that He exists.

Somewhere – in silence –

He has hid his rare life

From our gross eyes.

’Tis an instant’s play –

’Tis a fond Ambush –

Just to make Bliss

Earn her own surprise!

But – should the play

Prove piercing earnest –

Should the glee – glaze –

In Death’s – stiff – stare –

Would not the fun

Look too expensive!

Would not the jest –

Have crawled too far!

Dickinson posits the notion that the thought of God and his existence is terrifying when coupled with the contemplation of death. The tone starts out blissfully with the thought of God's existence but quickly changes to dreary with the thought of what death would be like should God not exist. We believe that Dickinson is trying to say that the idea of a god reassures us but when one doesn't believe, death can be a terrifying experience.

I Heard A Funeral In My Head

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading – treading – till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through –  

And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum –  
Kept beating – beating – till I thought
My Mind was going numb –  

And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space – began to toll,

As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race
Wrecked, solitary, here – 

And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down –  
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing – then – 

Dickinson uses imagery to convey the idea that the speaker's surroundings irritate her with all that is going on. The speaker further uses repetition with the words "treading" and "beating" to suggest her annoyance with the noises surrounding her in life. We think that she believes death should be peaceful, and she yearns for it. 

This World is not Conclusion

This World is not Conclusion.
A Species stands beyond --
Invisible, as Music --
But positive, as Sound --
It beckons, and it baffles --
Philosophy -- don't know --
And through a Riddle, at the last --
Sagacity, must go --
To guess it, puzzles scholars --
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion, shown --
Faith slips -- and laughs, and rallies --
Blushes, if any see --
Plucks at a twig of Evidence --
And asks a Vane, the way --
Much Gesture, from the Pulpit --
Strong Hallelujahs roll --
Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
That nibbles at the soul --

 

Dickinson disscusses the idea of life after death through the use of metaphors and similies. Dickinson describes how humans have difficulty comprehending the idea that there is something left after death. The poet posits the notion that the contemplation of death and what lies beyond baffles even the most educated people and the annoyance of the thought of death can't be lessened no matter how hard one may try. We believe that the speaker believes in another world after humans pass on but the idea and mystery of the unknown confuses them.

Our Purpose

Kaitlyn and I are discussing death as portrayed through Emily Dickinson's poetry. The poems that we chose contemplate death and what lies beyond. The following poems discuss life after death, the fear of dying, and the struggle with the idea that God exists along with the fear of dying. Our ideas about the themes of the selected poems will be expressed in our analysis. Feel free to comment and discuss your own ideas.