As Imperceptibly as Grief

• As Imperceptibly as Grief

  • poem lines are generally short implying a sense of simplicity and stability - level of acceptance on the speaker's part
  • "imperceptibly" - suggests that no one notices age speakers pain and grief because it has happened so gradually
  • oxymoron since most times grief is noticeable and the person feels melancholy
  • "grief' - pain is unbearable and overwhelming
• 'The summer lapsed away'

  • summer is personified by the use of the capital letter
  • echoes the first line, emphasising how grief and change of seasons can go unnoticed
  • link between summer and grief in the first two lines - comparison holds throughout the poem- surface message about summer represents the narrators thoughts on grief - time passing and death is approaching
• 'into the Beautiful'

  • religious reference to heaven - looks at dying from a positive side - she's not scared of dying (maybe because she has seen so many of her friends die and get buried right in front of her house - there used to be a park which was replaced by a graveyard, right in front of her house)
• 'Into the Beautiful '

  • summer escapes 'into the beautiful' hinting that the end of grief is ultimately positive-only full stop in the poem indicating a sense of finality- reflects the finality of summer (and grief) having passed -last four lines - less punctuation, more decisive tone - speaker accepts the change that has taken place
• context

  • Emily Dickinson lived in Massachusetts, USA, 1830-86. She was recluse so did not leave the house often
  • Before she wrote this poem several family members and friends had died
• structure

  • Dickenson uses a series of dashes to create a hesitant and disjointed pace to the poem, reflecting her own fractured state of mind