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The Original
I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—
I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air—
Between the Heaves of Storm—
The Eyes around—had wrung them dry— 5
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset—when the King
Be witnessed—in the Room—
I willed my Keepsakes—Signed away
What portion of me be 10
Assignable—and then it was
There interposed a Fly—
With Blue—uncertain stumbling Buzz—
Between the light—and me—
And then the windows failed—and then 15
I could not see to see—
A Pastiche
In Troubled—Stillness did I lay,
In Troubled—Stillness did I lay,
Till Heaven’s Bells rang clear
And bade Me—Come to see—The Grave
Although the Plot be far
This Stimulation,—Such—May—Be— 5
A common Veil, to curl—
One’s Finger upward to—The Sky
With Modesty to Sell
I know The Father sees—My Truth
His Eyes do see My Light 10
A Flame that I —will keep— for Him
With mute devotion spent
An Explanation
Born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts Emily Narcross and Edward Dickinson, a prominent lawyer, Emily Dickinson is one of America’s best-known female poets. From 1840 to 1847 she attended the Amherst Academy, and from 1847 to 1848 she studied at the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, just a few miles from Amherst. With the exception of various trips to Washington D.C. and Boston, Dickinson spent most of her life in her room, where she composed almost 2,000 poems (Smith). The most common characteristics of Dickinson’s poetry is her use of slant rhyme, her unconventional use of punctuation and capitalization, and the influence of her Puritan upbringing on the content and structure of her poetry.
In her poetry, Dickinson frequently makes use of slant rhyme. As defined in Encyclopedia Britannica, slant rhyme occurs when two words have only their final consonant sounds in common. This is seen throughout Dickinson’s work. In “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—”, slant rhyme is seen early in the poem in the first verse. Dickinson writes, “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—/The Stillness in the Room/Was like the Stillness in the Air—/Between the Heaves of Storm—”. In lines two and four, the words room and storm are slant rhymes. Slant rhymes are also found in lines six and seven, where Dickinson pairs the words firm and room.
Another characteristic of Dickinson’s poetry is her eccentric use of capitalization and punctuation. In her work, Dickinson uses capitalization in an unconventional manner, often arranging lines of verse in unusual ways, and seemingly sporadically employing dashes (“—”) to signal a break in a line of poetry. Examples of her unconventional use of capitalization and punctuation may be found throughout the poem “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—”. The most extreme example is in line thirteen, where Dickinson writes, “With Blue—uncertain stumbling Buzz—”. Here the reader sees Dickinson’s strangely powerful use of capitalization and punctuation. Although obviously going against the norm, her unconventionality is effective because it forces the reader to stop and think. While the use of this unique technique may seem to be random and nonsensical, I feel that Dickinson used it in order to emphasize the meaning and importance in her poetry.
Dickinson’s poetry also reflects her Puritan upbringing. This influence can be found in the content and the structure of many of her poems. Dickinson often structures her work writes in variations of meters commonly found in hymns, particularly iambic tetrameter (Smith). In “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—” she uses iambic tetrameter in every first and third line of each verse, and iambic triameter in every second and fourth line of each verse. In addition to structural influences, her religious upbringing also influenced her poetry’s content. In “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—”, there is only a single reference to God found in line seven. She writes, “For that last Onset—when the King”. King is a common title referring to God in the Puritan religion (among other religions). Many of Dickinson’s poetry refer to or address God, Heaven, and other Puritan teachings.
I chose to discuss Dickinson’s work because it is so unique and unmistakable. I first went about reading and researching Dickinson’s work, taking note of the qualities that most stood out. Because there are many more than three traits that are characteristic of Dickinson’s work, I decided early on to choose the traits that I could most successfully imitate and discuss. After choosing those three characteristics, I went about looking for a single poem (as the assignment called for) to support my three claims. Using the poem “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—” as a model, I wrote a pastiche that employed slant rhyme, unconventional capitalization and punctuation, and a Puritan influence, namely religious references and use of iambic tetrameter.
In my poem “In Troubled—Stillness did I lay,” slant rhyme is used in every second and last line in each verse. In the first verse for example, I wrote, “In Troubled—Stillness did I lay,/Till Heaven’s Bells rang clear/And bade Me—Come to see—The Grave/Although the plot be far”. The slant rhyme in line two and four are the words clear and far. My use of capitalization and punctuation is purposefully unconventional in this poem. Unlike Dickinson, my arrangement or usage of breaks has no deeper meaning other than convenience and my intention to imitate her unusual style. For the most part, I capitalized words that held some importance. However in line five, I capitalized the words Such, May, and Be simply to emphasize how random and nonsensical her use of capitalization can seem. Finally, I structured my poem into three verses, consisting of four lines. My rhyme scheme is abcb defe ghih, similar to “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—” and other (though not all) Dickinson poems. In both my “In Troubled—Stillness did I lay,” and Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—”, the first and third lines of each verse are in iambic tetrameter, and the second and fourth lines of each verse are in iambic triameter. I also filled the third verse with religious references in Dickinson’s style.
Overall, I think “In Troubled—Stillness did I lay,” is a good imitation of Dickinson’s poetry. I not only incorporated the characteristics that I discussed in this paper, I also tried to include other common characteristics of Dickinson’s work such as diction, tone and voice. The most obvious and difficult to reconstruct aspect of her work is her completely unique word usage. Often her poems seemingly consist of ramblings from an unstable recluse, but somehow they make sense and often voice a sentiment, belief, or truth that is very hard to put into words. This is one of the reasons I appreciate her style so much. Although I enjoy her work, I will not pretend that it is always easy to understand. However, it is unquestionable that Dickinson was a prolific poet, and, personally, one of my favorites.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Smith, Martha Nell. “Dickinson, Emily Elizabeth.”Microsoft
Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2001. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 29 April 2001
.
“Half Rhyme.” Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. 29
April 2001 .
Word Count: 1163
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