Emily Dickinson Reflection Blog By Abby&Gabby

Nature, the gentlest mother, is written by the author Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson has been known for writing about her love of nature and how even in its simplicity, it is the most beautiful thing that we have ever known. Many authors wrote about their love for nature during this time. For example, Walt Whitman was a big fan, and even before him, Ralph Waldo Emerson and David Henry Thoreau. Her poem starts out like this, “Nature, the gentlest mother, Impatient of no child, The feeblest or the waywardest,- Her admonition mild.” (Dickinson). To Emily Dickinson, Mother Nature was “the gentlest mother” and is also very patient with her children. In the second stanza it then goes on to say that she hears everything; whether it is in the forest or the hill, and that she is always “restraining rampant squirrel or too impetuous bird.” (Dickinson). Finally, in the third stanza, she goes on to say,“How fair her conversation, A summer afternoon, her household, her assembly; and when the sun goes down (Dickinson). I think that this is saying that no matter what time of day it is, or what season, or what year, Mother Nature is always beautiful. Not only is nature beautiful in the day, but even when the sun goes down, she still offers something wonderful, like the stars or the moon. I like how in her poem Emily Dickinson talks about Mother Nature as if she were an actual human. I think that it makes it more interesting for the reader and is very creative. In the fourth stanza, Emily Dickinson says how the voice of Mother Nature encourages the "timid prayer of the minutest cricket, the most unworthy flower" (Dickinson). In this stanza, I think what Emily Dickinson is trying to say is that everything in nature has some sort of purpose, like crickets and flowers. Even though they are not the best part of nature, they still have a purpose. In the fifth stanza, Emily Dickinson talks about how when the children are sleeping, Mother Nature lights the sky with her lamps (Dickinson). I think that when she says lamps she really means stars and the moon because they come out at night when everyone is sleeping. In the final stanza of this poem, Emily Dickinson says "With infinite affection, and infiniter care, her golden finger on her lip, wills silence everywhere" (Dickinson). In this stanza, Emily Dickinson is saying that with a lot of care Mother Nature wills silence at night. I think that this stanza was pretty much self explanatory because I think it means exactly what she is saying. I think that in this stanza Emily Dickinson uses imagery because she says "her golden finger on her lip" which I think is a form of imagery. Overall, this poem was really interesting to read because it was about Mother Nature and how she is the gentlest mother. This poem is really cool because Emily Dickinson refers to Mother Nature as if she is a real person, not just a figure of speech.

Journal #28

The famous Emily Dickinson wrote the poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died." This poem is about a fly that interrupts the speaker as they are passing away. The poem starts out like this, "I heard a fly buzz when I died; The stillness round my form Was like the stillness in the air Between the heaves of storm" (Dickinson). I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think that Emily Dickinson was saying that as she was laying there dying, the room and the air became very peaceful and still. Especially, after being very sick and heaving after long periods of time. So far, I feel like this is a very interesting poem because it is different than many other poems. I'm not sure if I like it, but it is sort of unique. Next, she goes on to say, "The eyes beside had wrung them dry, And breaths were gathering sure For that last onset, when the king Be witnessed in his power." (Dickinson). This stanza, for me, was a lot harder to analyze because I think everyone can interpret it differently. The first sentence makes me think of people crying because the speaker is dying so I think that it would make sense. The second line, which I do not completely understand, I think might mean that people, like the speaker's friends and family were coming to gather around her, while she passes away for the "last onset, when the king be witnessed in his power" (Dickinson). At least, that is what I took from this stanza. Then, the third stanza starts like this, "I willed my keepsakes, signed away What portion of me I Could make assignable,-and then There interposed a fly," (Dickinson). Now this is talking about how the speaker had signed his/ her will, and assigned what could be assigned away, and then a fly came along. Finally, With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz, Between the light and me; And then the windows failed, and then I could not see to see. I thought this poem was different, I don't think I loved it, but it was okay. "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died." Web. 27 Mar. 2012. .

Emily Dickinson's Writing Style Reflection

Emily Dickinson was another great author. She was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She lived a very privileged life. She graduated from Amherst academy and eventually went on to South Hadley Seminary for nearly a year. Her world revolved around her family and because of her family's status, she would often be entertaining guests and visitors. she was also extremely knowledgeable, especially when it came to the Bible, the writings of Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, and also George Eliot (McChesney). The strange thing was that about in her early twenties, Emily Dickinson started to shy away from the outside world and community. she mostly stayed in her house and hardly ever socialized anymore except for with a few close friends (McChesney). However, looking back now, that is what makes her unique. she searched inside herself and sort of analyzed her feelings and lifestyle and often, that is expressed in her poetry (McChesney). It is very obvious in the way she writes that she was probably a little different than most people. for example, she wrote a this letter when she was fifteen years old and here is what it said, " "How swiftly summer has fled & what report has it borne to heaven of misspent time & wasted hours? The ceaseless flight of the seasons is to me a very solemn thought, & yet Why do we not strive to make a better improvement of them?" (Dickinson). At this age, most girls are interested in clothes and hair, but Emily Dickinson was already showing the early signs of becoming the great and memorable author that she is (McChesney). She has several different techniques that she uses when she writes. Like many of the authors during this time, she also loved nature. However, instead of talking about a landscape or a blue sky, or the woods, she would break it down in to a simple blade of grass or a single raindrop or insect. " The Bee is not afraid of me./I know the Butterfly./The pretty people in the Woods/Receive me cordially—." (Dickinson). Emily Dickinson was also different in the fact that she did not like to do the normal things that women were supposed to do back then. She would often bake desserts, but she did not like to cook very much. In a letter she wrote, "Father and Austin still clamor for food, and I, like a martyr am feeding them. Wouldn't you love to see me in these bonds of great despair?" (Dickinson). So, not only was she different in her writing style and personality, but she did not conform to society as women were supposed to do. That was about the time when she started to close herself in her room. I really enjoy reading her poetry knowing that she was different than a lot of authors in her writing style, but also in her personality and perspectives. It is a shame that she maybe didn't get out more and live "a normal life." However, if she hadn't lived this way or had not become that person then we may have not had all of her beautiful and mysterious poetry that we have today.




McChesney, Sandra. "A View from the Window: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson." In Harold Bloom, ed. Emily Dickinson, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BCED03&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 20, 2012).

Walt Whitman's Writing Style Reflection

Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in Long Island, New York. He is considered to be one of the most important transcendentalist writers of his time. Like we have talked about before, Walt Whitman took a great deal from both Ralph Waldo Emerson and David Henry Thoreau. The poems that I have read of his seem very nice. I am not a great poet or anything like that, but from my perspective I thought that his writing style was very wise sometimes. Sometimes he tends to take a more political turn in his writings, but when he talks about nature especially it reminds me of Emerson and Thoreau and after all of the research we have done on them, I have come to like their styles, at least to a certain extent. This was also a from of Romanticism writing, but like I said, he often wrote about other things as well. "Keep your splendid, silent sun; Keep your woods, O Nature, and the quiet places by the woods; Keep your fields of clover and timothy, and your corn-fields and orchards;Keep the blossoming buckwheat fields, where the Ninth-month bees hum;" (Whitman). Even if I do not agree or really understand with whatever Whitman is saying, I still think his poems are very insightful and well written. Whitman created a whole new style of writing. It was new for this time period and became very popular(Connors). The subject matter was also a lot bolder (Connors). Like Emerson and Thoreau, I think he ended up leaving behind his own legacy.
However, believe it or not, there were some people that did not like Walt Whitman's writing style at all. For example, Henry James an American author, did not like Walt Whitman at all, at least not the way he wrote things. In fact, he ends up calling Whitman's Drum Taps as "an offense against art" (James). He rejected Whitman's style and eclecticism as mere novelty rather than artistic innovation. "Our author's novelty, however, is not in his words, but in the form of his writing. As we have said, it begins for all the world like verse and turns out to be arrant prose." I think here Mr. James is saying that the reason he never cared for Whitman much was because nothing was special about his words. The only thing that was different about him was his writing style. But because everyone liked his style, they would often agree with his views or admire him. I am not sure if I agree with Henry James, but I can kind of see where he is coming from. All I know is that Walt Whitman must have had an affect on people. There are many people that enjoyed his new and different writing style and are still, to this day, trying to reach that same level of creativity as he had done, but then there were others, like Henry James who criticized it and did not enjoy it at all. I personally enjoy his style of writing for the most part.







Connors, Judith. "Whitman, Walt." In Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BCWWh02&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 20, 2012).


James, Henry. "Mr. Walt Whitman." The Nation, November 16, 1865: 626. Quoted as "Mr. Walt Whitman" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCVWaW079&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 20, 2012).


"130. Give Me the Splendid, Silent Sun. Whitman, Walt. 1900. Leaves of Grass." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. .

Blog #18 - Walt Whitman

The poem that I chose is "O' Captain, My Captain!" by Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman was born on May 31, in 1819 in Long Island, New York. Walt Whitman wanted to reflect American society and allow readers to realize themselves and the nature of the American experience (Bio.). The poem that I chose to read is basically about a man on a ship, so maybe he is part of the crew or something. He talks about how he is coming home from a long and hard voyage. The people waiting for them at the port are very happy to see them, but he is in mourning because even though he is happy to be returning, his captain is dead. "My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;" (Whitman). This is when he is talking about being happy about how the voyage turned out and being very sad because of his captain being gone.
This relates to Emerson and Thoreau because both of them have experienced hard times in their life and have dealt with death. For example, when Emerson first got married, his wife was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She passed away just a year or two after they were wed. He talks about how he was heart broken and devastated (Vetter). He also talks about how he was sad because they would no longer be together, at least not in this world. I feel bad for Emerson and also the man on the ship. I liked this poem very much because it was simple and short, but you could interpret it in many ways. That is how I think this poem relates to Emerson. Doing all of these blogs on Emerson and Thoreau was actually very interesting. I have learned a great deal about their philosophies and what they stood for.


"O Captain! My Captain!, by Walt Whitman." Poetry Archive. Web. 09 Mar. 2012.

"Walt Whitman Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 09 Mar. 2012.

"Marriage | Emerson - Living Legacy." Harvard Square Library. Web. 09 Mar. 2012.

Blog #17 - Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. One of the things that made Emily Dickinson very different was that she was not very social. She had a few very close relationships with people, but other than that she rarely left the house. But she wrote poetry all the time. The poem that I chose to read by Emily Dickinson was the poem "Nature, is what we see." I chose this poem because I thought it would be more of a challenge to write about just because it is a very simple, yet thought provoking poem. Basically, Emily Dickinson talks about nature and how it is so nice in its simplicity. However, she also says that even though it is simple, it is too wonderful for us to even describe it. At least, that's what I took from this poem. "Nature is what we know—Yet have no art to say— So impotent Our Wisdom is To her Simplicity" (Dickinson). That quote was when she was talking about nature's beautiful simplicity.
I think that this poem definitely relates to both Ralph Waldo Emerson and David Henry Thoreau. Both of those guys really liked nature and talked about it a lot. They both had many philosophies on nature. For example, Emerson strongly believed that things in nature offered simplicity, happiness and a sense of respect. He also states, "If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown!" (Emerson). Now, Thoreau also has many philosophies on nature as well. Thoreau quotes on more than one occasion, "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!" (Thoreau). So, all three of them (Dickinson, Emerson, and Thoreau) all believed in the wonderful design that nature is, yet it is its simplicity that makes it wonderful. I liked this poem and all of their views on nature. Even though all of them are very alike in their views, it is weird to think how different they probably were.



"Emily Dickinson." PoemHunter.com. Web. 08 Mar. 2012.


"Update and Debate on World Religious Issues, Politics, Sociology and Cultural Mediation." World Religion Watch. Web. 08 Mar. 2012.

"Thoreau Quotes." Psymon. Web. 08 Mar. 2012.

Blog #16 - To Build a Fire

In the story "To Build a Fire," there is a man who is walking in the Alaskan wilderness. The man had been told to never go out into the wilderness by himself, especially if the weather was so cold. But the man did not listen and he makes the trek anyway. After awhile, the man starts to get very cold and he realizes that he may be in danger. So he decides to stop and make a fire next to this tree. He makes the fire and starts to take off his boots to warm his feet, when all of a sudden, snow falls from the tree and puts out the fire. Unable to get warm, the man actually considers killing his dog so that he can stick his hands in the warm body, but he does not have enough strength to do so, so the dog is let loose. In the end, the man is not able to go on and dies in the cold all by himself.
I think that this story relates to Emerson and Thoreau because it has a lot to do with naturalism. Emerson's philosophy was that if you went against nature, it would work against you instead of helping you. Both Emerson and Thoreau respected nature a lot and were strong believers in it. The man fought against nature by going out on that journey despite of the weather. By doing this it showed that he did not respect nature very much and in the end it ended up killing him. I really liked this story just because I feel like stuff like this happens in real life. People hike alone or do not think about all of the dangerous things that can happen to them if they are not prepared for anything. Other than that it was kind of depressing because he died in the end and all alone in the vast Alaskan wilderness, when he could have lived if only he would have listened.


"To Build a Fire Summary." Study Guides & Essay Editing. Web. 07 Mar. 2012.

"Famous Emerson Quotes - Philosophy Paradise." Philosophy Paradise. Web. 07 Mar. 2012.

Blog#14 - The Darling

"The Darling" is a short story written by Anton Chekov. In the story, the main character and protagonist, Olga, tends to fall in love, in some way or another, with anyone she meets. First, she loved her father and was attached to him, then she married a man that owned a theater, and they fell in love. After he died, only three months later she married a shop keeper. The weird thing was that the shop keeper was married and had a family and Olga wanted him and his family to move in with her, which is just an awkward situation. Anyway, in the end he dies too. So finally, Olga becomes attached to his son and comes to love him. But the son does not love her in return, in fact he is kind of embarrassed to be with her (Chevok).
The story is weird because I think Olga was the kind of person that felt like she always had to be loved or be kind of the center of attention. She sounds very clingy and annoying. I also feel sorry for her though because she was never really able to be independent in any way, or form her own opinions, like a other people do. Now, both Emerson and Thoreau valued love, but I think that they valued love in a very different way that Olga did. I think that Emerson and Thoreau valued actual relationships. Olga just kind of jumped back and forth to people that she met just because she felt that she needed them. For example, Emerson worked as a nurse for awhile during the war. He helped many injured men and dedicated his time to doing that, not to mention he probably saw some scary things. This shows a bigger kind of love. A different kind of love than what Olga felt. Olga made me mad throughout the whole story, but ultimately it made me feel bad for her. It is unfortunate that she was never able to see what was happening.


"The Darling." Enotes.com. Enotes.com. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.

Blog #15 - Richard Cory

This story is about a man named Richard Cory. Basically, this blog is about how the townspeople always think that Richard Cory is a perfect guy and nothing is ever wrong in his life. For example, the story states, "And he was rich—yes, richer than a king, And admirably schooled in every grace: 10 In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place" (Edwin Arlington Robinson). The whole time the people admired him and wished that they could be as rich and as elegant as him. But little did everyone know that Richard Cory was not as happy and content as everyone thought that he was. "So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, 15 Went home and put a bullet through his head" (Robinson). In the end Richard Cory committed suicide, which is very sad. Even though he had everything, (at least everything materialistic) something was missing in his life, obviously something very important. I found this quote that is from David Henry Thoreau and I think that it may relate to this story a little. Thoreau says, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. ...." (Thoreau). I think that this very much describes Richard Cory because he was very quiet. He looked perfect on the outside, but on the inside he was desperate. It is sad to think that more people than we realize live this way, at least according to Thoreau. I thought that this story was very sad, but it just goes to show that you never know what is really going on in people's lives. Also, I did like how even though this story was pretty short, it got across a very strong message. So, overall I did not mind this story, and I think that it relates to Thoreau pretty well.


"45. Richard Corey. Edwin Arlington Robinson. Modern American Poetry." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 05 Mar. 2012.

"Henry David Thoreau." - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online. Discuss. Web. 05 Mar. 2012.

Blog #13 - I Will Fight No More Forever

I absolutely loved this speech. It was short and simple, but meaningful still. This speech is by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, which were located in Northwest Oregon. The story behind the speech is that the Nez Perce tribe were originally supposed to move to a reservation, but they did not like that and did not want to go. So instead, Chief Joseph tried to lead his tribe of people to Canada so that they would not have to live on the reservations. They made it all the way past Montana and Idaho, but were trapped only about forty miles away from Canada. The tribe fought for about five days, but in the end, they were beaten. This was when Chief Joseph made his speech. In his speech he says that he does not like fighting and he does not want to do it anymore. He also states, " The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead." (Joseph) Because all of the older men are dead, all of the younger ones have to make the decisions now and take that responsibility. It was a great loss, so he continues and finishes by saying, "Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." (Joseph). I think that this relates to Emerson and Thoreau because well, I do not know how they felt about the Indians, but I know that they both did not like slavery, and I feel that this is borderline. They did not like the violence that came from slavery, so in my opinion, I do not think that they would like the violence and loss of life that came from this either (Emerson).


"Famous Emerson Quotes - Philosophy Paradise." Philosophy Paradise. Web. 01 Mar. 2012

"Chief Joseph." Welcome to Georgia State University. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.

Blog #12 - Spoon River Anthology

Spoon River Anthology is not just one narrative or one poem, but in fact a collection of poems. The poems are about people that live in a small Midwestern town. It is really interesting because sometimes, their stories or how they are feeling overlap with each other. So you might hear a persons name in one poem, and then three poems later you might be reading a poem that also includes that person or it is in fact them who wrote it. I love books like that, so I thought that was really interesting and creative. Anyway, I read the poem called "The Hill." This one is about how everyone has their own way of passing away or dying. I think that it was a pretty depressing poem, but it is only one poem out of the whole book. Anyway, it is about death. For example, the poem says, "Where are Ella, Kate, Mag, Lizzie and Edith,The tender heart, the simple soul, the loud, the proud, The happy one?-All, all, are sleeping on the hill. One died in shameful child-birth,One of a thwarted love,
One at the hands of a brute in a brothel,One of a broken pride, in the search for heart’s desire,One after life in far-away London and Paris Was brought to her little space by Ella and Kate and Mag-All, all, are sleeping, sleeping, sleeping on the hill." (Masters).
I think that this can maybe relate to Emerson or Thoreau a little bit. I think it might relate because I feel like in this poem, the author talks about death so carelessly, but I think that Thoreau was a little more thoughtful when it came to stuff like that. I also know that when Emerson's wife had passed away, he was crushed. I think that like Thoreau, he was also a little more thoughtful when it came to death. He did not consider her to be "just sleeping on a hill", he was very sad. That is how I think it may relate.


"Spoon River Anthology." Umasd.schoolwires.com/.../lib/.../Masters_(Spoon_River).doc. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.

"Marriage | Emerson - Living Legacy." Harvard Square Library. Web. 01 Mar. 2012.