As Imperceptibly as grief

Cards (35)

  • Emily Dickinson was an American poet who lived in the 19th century between 1830 and 1886
  • Dickinson was obsessed with and very afraid of death, with one of her closest friends dying of typhus when she was 13
  • Between the age of 10 and 25, Dickinson's bedroom overlooked a cemetery in which five of her friends were buried
  • Dickinson was a recluse who left the house less and less frequently in her adulthood, acting as a carer for her declining mother
  • Fewer than a dozen of Dickinson's poems were published in her lifetime, suggesting her writing was very personal
  • Imperceptibly
    So slight, gradual or subtle as not to be perceived
  • Elapsed
    Vanished or expired
  • Perfidy
    Deceit
  • Distilled
    The purification or shortening of something to only its essential meaning
  • Sequestered
    Isolated and hidden away
  • Courteous
    Polite
  • Harrowing
    Distressing
  • The poem's title "As Imperceptibly as Grief" foreshadows the theme of death
  • The dashes in the poem represent the fragile and unstable mind of the speaker, as their thoughts become tangential and fragmented due to the weight of grief</b>
  • Nature is personified as an isolated woman, which could reflect Dickinson's own feelings of isolation
  • The "quietness" and "sequestered" imagery suggest the isolation associated with grief is peaceful and comforting
  • The imperfect rhyme scheme reflects the speaker's imperfect feelings and the pain of grief
  • The passing of grief
    Compared to the passing of summer
  • Harrowing grace
    Something positive (grace) has become unsettling or distressing
  • Morning
    Personified as a guest who wants to leave, reiterating the idea that time must pass
  • The poem contains many dashes, suggesting the speaker's thoughts are becoming increasingly fragmented as they panic about time moving on
  • The final four lines
    Contain a shift in mood, becoming more logical and like a conclusion as the speaker has rationalized their grief and is ready to move on
  • "Beautiful"
    Suggests the passing of grief is something worth celebrating
  • The poem shifts from being reflective and mournful to slightly more positive by the end
  • " The Summer lapsed away "
  • what is " as Imperceptibly as grief"?
    A simile that may suggest that like summer passing away , grief fades away
  • what does the use of everyday language suggest?
    that the feeling of grief and loss is a normal and universal experience
  • " Twilight long begun "
  • " Nature spending with herself "
  • what happened after 1865?
    Dickenson rarely left her home but she was a prolific letter writer
  • what did Dickens experience in 1858?
    an unknown trauma
  • what did Dickinson think about marriage and domestic life?
    she thought it was a drugary and limiting
  • " And thus " ?
    volta suggest a change in tone - conclusive and ready to move on
  • " Our Summer made her light escape into something beautiful "
  • what does the light symbolism show?
    hope and weightlessness and ambiguous ending which is both joyful yet mournful