Emily Dickinson’s Poem It Was Not Death Essay - 566 Words

In Emily Dickinson’s poem â€Å"It Was Not Death†, Dickinson is stuck in a mental state of hopelessness and despair which she cannot define nor understand. As Dickinson does not know the cause of her anguish, she begins the poem by referring to her condition with an unidentified â€Å"it†, and throughout the poem she is trying to make sense of this â€Å"it†. The poem is written in ballad meter as it consists of four line stanzas that contain alternate lines of iambic tetrameter followed by iambic trimeter. In both the first and second stanza, Dickinson is trying to make sense of her feelings by eliminating the different possibilities of her current mental state. She uses specific details in order to make these images clear to the reader: Dickinson†¦show more content†¦These stanzas are given structure by the constant use of â€Å"it was not† so as to identify that these feelings are not actually happening to her. In the third stanza, Dickinson brings all of the images from the previous stanzas together by stating how her condition feels so much like all of them. Since she experiences every one of these states at once, they have combined and are now indistinguishable in her mind, giving a sense of chaos to her mental state. Dickinson then shifts her thoughts to the scene of a funeral. The sight of the order of bodies that are being prepared for interment reminds Dickinson of her own state, which feels like death. In the fourth stanza, Dickinson feels as if her life has been shaven, as in that the only emotions left for her are despair. She feels boxed in and is suffocating because all hope and possibility of change has been lost. The key in which without she could not breathe symbolizes Dickinson’s need for understanding her condition. She needs to know what she is feeling and why she is feeling it. In the fifth stanza, Dickinson goes into more detail about her despair. To her, time has stopped because she sees no ending to her state. She also feels completely isolated because of her condition since she is surrounded by space and nothingness. In the last stanza, Dickinson asserts an overwhelming anguish. What she is experiencing feels so much like chaos, but although similar, since it is not really chaos, she has no prospectShow MoreRelatedEmily Dickinson: An American Poet1793 Words   |  7 PagesEmily Dickinson is one of the most influential American authors, whose works transformed the way people view poetry and female authors. Her exceedingly complex life has proved a tremendous influence on her instrumental poetry, creating its originality and distinguishing her from other great poets of the nineteenth century. As well, her use of symbolism and imagery has continued to make her work celebrated. 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