I heard a Fly buzz – when I died – by Emily Dickinson (1863)
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 –
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset – when the King
Be witnessed – in the Room –
I willed my Keepsakes – Signed away
What portions of me be
Assignable – and then it was
There interposed a Fly –
With Blue – uncertain stumbling Buzz –
Between the light – and me –
And then the Windows failed
OR
I felt a Funeral, in my Brain by Emily Dickinson (1862)
I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading – treading – till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through –
And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum –
Kept beating – beating – till I thought
My mind was going numb –
And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space – began to toll,
As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race
Wrecked, solitary, here –
And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down –
And hit a World, at every plunge,
Poetry is often steeped in ambiguity and, as a result, a poem has many possible interpretations; however, this does not mean that a poem can simply mean whatever you wish to make
it mean. Before one can make the “figurative leap,” one must begin with the language of the poem; in other words, whatever interpretation you wish to explore must come first and foremost from the actual text of the poem— and, as one explicates a poem, one must explore that text and use one’s analysis of it to support that exploration. Leave no part of the poem unexplained …
An explication is part interpretation, part analysis, and part explanation. Focus on the language of the poem.
What Should You Be Explicating?
In general, when explicating, one explores the text of the poem—specifically such things as the poet’s use of metaphor, simile, symbols, personification, paradox, hyperbole, imagery, form/structure, and music (alliteration, assonance, consonance, end rhyme, internal rhyme). Keep in mind, however, that one does not need to cover all of these things. It is not your job to offer a shopping list of every figurative or musical device in a poem but, instead, to closely examine those that are most relevant to the poem. I do not, for example, want you to write something like the following:
In the poem “Design,” Robert Frost uses a variation of the Italian sonnet form. The poem has the following rhyme scheme: ABBAABBA CDCCDD. Frost uses personification and symbols as well as similes. In the first eight lines of the sonnet, what is called an octave, Frost tells thereader about a white spider on a white heal-all that he encounters. In the last six lines, which are called a sestet, Frost asks several questions.
Each “item” on this list is most certainly relevant, but instead of just listing items, you need to explore each facet on its own and show your reader its relevance. For example:
The discussion of the sonnet form is very useful if you are demonstrating how the poet uses the conventions of that structure to explore (a) the questions theme brought up in the poem and/or (b) how the poet addresses them.
Avoid psychobabble like:
It is obvious that Emily Dickinson is in a state of denial. Maybe if her parents had loved her more as a child, she would not have been so obsessed with death.
Structure:
You do not need a formal introduction.
You do not need a thesis statement placed at the beginning of your essay.
Either begin by offering a general summary of the poem’s theme and then body paragraphs that explicate all of the lines and literary devices– or just jump right in and explicate the poem. State your thesis (what you think the poem “means”) in your conclusion. This way you will have argued towards your conclusion / thesis.
• have argued towards your conclusion / thesis.
• Place quotation marks around poem titles.
• Cite the line number of the poem each time you quote.
• Since you are only writing about one poem, you do not need to include the author’s name in the citation.
• Make sure that, early in the essay, you state the title of the poem and the poet’s full name.
• For the rest of the essay, use the author’s last name.
• Use the present tense to refer to the poem and the poet / narrator.
Use the following for works cited
Dickinson, Emily “Title of Poem.” English 1B Course Reader: Summer 2015. Ed. Nathan Wirth.Novato, CA: Nathan’s Mind Inc. 2015. Print.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]