Poet

Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1830. She attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, but severe homesickness led her to return home after one year. Throughout her life, she seldom left her house and visitors were scarce. The people with whom she did come in contact, however, had an enormous impact on her thoughts and poetry. She was particularly stirred by the Reverend Charles Wadsworth, whom she met on a trip to Philadelphia. He left for the West Coast shortly after a visit to her home in 1860, and some critics believe his departure gave rise to the heartsick flow of verse from Dickinson in the years that followed. While it is certain that he was an important figure in her life, it is not certain that this was in the capacity of romantic love—she called him "my closest earthly friend." Other possibilities for the unrequited love in Dickinson’s poems include Otis P. Lord, a Massachusetts Supreme Court Judge, and Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican.

By the 1860s, Dickinson lived in almost total physical isolation from the outside world, but actively maintained many correspondences and read widely. She spent a great deal of this time with her family. Her father, Edward Dickinson, was actively involved in state and national politics, serving in Congress for one term. Her brother Austin attended law school and became an attorney, but lived next door once he married Susan Gilbert (one of the speculated—albeit less persuasively—unrequited loves of Emily). Dickinson’s younger sister Lavinia also lived at home for her entire life in similar isolation. Lavinia and Austin were not only family, but intellectual companions during Dickinson’s lifetime.

She admired the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, as well as John Keats. Though she was dissuaded from reading the verse of her contemporary Walt Whitman by rumor of its disgracefulness, the two poets are now connected by the distinguished place they hold as the founders of a uniquely American poetic voice. While Dickinson was extremely prolific as a poet and regularly enclosed poems in letters to friends, she was not publicly recognized during her lifetime. The first volume of her work was published posthumously in 1890 and the last in 1955. She died in Amherst in 1886.

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. Her work was heavily influenced by the Metaphysical poets of seventeenth-century England, as well as her reading of the Book of Revelation and her upbringing in a Puritan New England town which encouraged a Calvinist, orthodox, and conservative approach to Christianity. Here are some of her poems, taken from Poets.org:

I cannot live without you

I cannot live with You –
It would be Life –
And Life is over there –
Behind the Shelf

The Sexton keeps the Key to –
Putting up
Our Life – His Porcelain –
Like a Cup –

Discarded of the Housewife –
Quaint – or Broke –
A newer Sevres pleases –
Old Ones crack –

I could not die – with You –
For One must wait
To shut the Other's Gaze down –
You – could not –

And I – could I stand by
And see You – freeze –
Without my Right of Frost –
Death's privilege?

Nor could I rise – with You –
Because Your Face
Would put out Jesus' –
That New Grace

Glow plain – and foreign
On my homesick Eye –
Except that You than He
Shone closer by –

They'd judge Us – How –
For You – served Heaven – You know,
Or sought to –
I could not –

Because You saturated Sight –
And I had no more Eyes
For sordid excellence
As Paradise

And were You lost, I would be –
Though My Name
Rang loudest
On the Heavenly fame –

And were You – saved –
And I – condemned to be
Where You were not –
That self – were Hell to Me –

So We must meet apart –
You there – I – here –
With just the Door ajar
That Oceans are – and Prayer –
And that White Sustenance –
Despair –

Fame is a fickle food

Fame is a fickle food
Upon a shifting plate
Whose table once a
Guest but not
The second time is set.

Whose crumbs the crows inspect
And with ironic caw
Flap past it to the Farmer's Corn –
Men eat of it and die.

Come slowly-Eden

Come slowly—Eden
Lips unused to Thee—
Bashful—sip thy Jessamines
As the fainting Bee—

Reaching late his flower,
Round her chamber hums—
Counts his nectars—
Enters—and is lost in Balms.

Poem

There is another sky by Emily Dickinson


There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields -
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!


Question 1 :How are the figurative language used in the poem? Give the specific
word(s), explain what type of figurative language it is and why the poet
chose to use this figurative language?
Answer 1 :Figurative language is used sparingly in this poem. There is no
symbolism in this poem. However, there is a lot of usage of
similes. Here are some examples:
1)There is another sky ; There is another sunshine
2)Faded forests ;little forest
3)Silent Fields ; brigher garden
The writer used similes because he wanted to show similarities between
two objects. After that, the writer can better describe the objects in
poem. There is only one hyperbole in the poem. It is Prithee. The writer
used such a word as she did not want to use a similar, but common, word
like "Welcome". There is also a rather wide use of personification.
Words like "serene","fair" and "silent" are words used commonly to
describe humans but in the poem, these words are used to describe the
sky and the fields. I think that the writer used personification because
she wanted to give life to the non-living objects.There is one use of a
metaphor. It is "Though it be". I think that the writer used this to
two completely different things in sunshine and darkness.

Question 2 : Tell us why you like this poem in no less than 100 words.

Answer 2 : I like this poem because it contains many descriptive vocabulary words.
With wide use of similes and personification, the writer can better
describe the objects involved. The poem also made me learn a new word :
Prithee, which means 'welcome' in old english. The poem also tells us
about the garden the writer describes in very descriptive words. The
poem also has a lot of meaning where the writer uses words that is not
commonly used on that object. That is the main reason why I chose this
poem.Another reason I like this poem is because the writer has a
similar name to me. I picked this poem on the website because of this
factor.


Any comments?

Signing off,
Dickson

Blog Prompt #5

Blog Prompt #5: Who is your favourite/least favourite character in VBTS? State your reasons.


After reading the novel "Village by the Sea", I found that my favourite and least favourite character is the same. Both are Hari.

I like him as he has a never-say-die personality. Even with an alcoholic father and a sick mother, he never gave up and kept working to create his perfect family. He even went over to Bombay to earn money to put bread on the table. He took on this responsibility which was supposed to be taken by his parents. Yet he did it with no complaints whatsoever.

His ability to plan his time is also admirable. In a period of a few months in Bombay, he managed to work for Jagu in Sri Krishna Eating House and learn how to repair watches from Mr Panwallah. He learnt a new art while earning money for his family.

Hari is also my least favourite character as he made us infer a lot of his thoughts in Language Arts classes, making classes rather boring…


Haiz,
Dickson

Blog prompt #4

Blog Prompt : Which part of Village by the Sea do you like most? State your reasons.


I like the part when Hari's parents shrugged off their dehumanized state best. After plenty of hard work from Lila, Bela and Kamal, the formerly shattered family bond slowly regained its shape. When Hari's father kicked his alcoholic habit and went to the hospital to take care of his wife, the shape of a harmonious family started to show. Finally, when Hari came back from Bombay with lots of money, the entire family started to show the shape of a real family.

Finally, when Hari's mother recovered form her sickness and came back home, the family displayed vibes of happiness as they prepared for Diwali together. When Hari's mother went for the festival to pray for the village, the family became a happy one again.

This story, although a little fairytale-like, is a very good example of families in India. Drunkard fathers, sick mothers and children who are too young to put bread on the table but are forced to for survival. However, it is uncommon that the family will come together again. So, I like the part where the family comes together again the best.

Any comments?

Signing off,
Dickson

Flirting in public : Right or Wrong?

I went over to Suntec City last Sunday for the book fair. I bought a couple of science assesment books and a book entitled ' English as it is broken #2 ' As I had the first series, I wanted to read the second book in the series. I also went to the Home Team Exhibition. It gave me alot of knowledge about how the Army and Police cooperate to deal with criminals and smugglers. When I was heading back home, I saw a couple huddling together and kissing like nobody's business. I thought that they were a disgrace. Yes, I know that it was their right to display their love for each another. But there was no need to do it in public! Moreover, Suntec City is a place frequented by foreigners. What happens if they spoil the image of Singaporeans? Didn't they think of the dire consequences if they did that? Maybe some foreign investor was passing by and saw this couple. He or she might chance their minds and invest in another country. We will lose money this way. I know I am being a little too far-fetched but this is a possibility! We must put our country and people's monetary interest as of utmost importance, don't you think? If they really want to flirt, they can do it at home, right?

Any comments?

Signing off,
Dickson

Blog Prompt #3

Blog Prompt #2 : I rather be the city rat than the country rat. Comment.

I don't really agree with the quote " I rather be the city rat than the country rat ". I would rather be a " country rat " if I had a choice. What's so good about the city? We live in stress everyday and don't really get to enjoy the technology in the city. Yes, I know that there is more convinience in the city, but this also causes us to be lazy. In my opinion, the remote control is a very good example. Imagine that we only have to walk a few steps to turn on the television and we have to use the remote control! People in the city are getting more and more lazy, and this is something we must work on and not add on to it.

I will now list the advantages of being a " country rat ". Firstly, in the country, the life is much more relaxed. Things move in a slower pace and we won't feel as stressed as living in the city. Secondly, there is not much pollution in the country, so people won't get ill so easily. We breathe in clean, cool air when we breathe in, not some dirty, polluted air.


Above is my analysis of the quote " I rather be the city rat than the country rat ". Any comments?

Signing off,
Dickson