Nineteenth Century American Poetry

Nineteenth-Century American Poetry Quotes

1.”...To know if He was patient-part content- (Line 5)

Was Dying as He thought-or different-

Was it a pleasant Day to die-

And did the Sunshine face His way-

What was his furthest mind-Of Home-or God-

Or what the Distant say-

At news that He ceased Human Nature

Such a Day-

And Wishes-He Had Any-

Just His Sigh-Accented-

Had been legible- to Me-

And was He Confident until

I’ll fluttered out-in Everlasting Well-”

This is a quote from poem 622 on page 362, and written by Emily Dickinson in 1862. Knowing Dickinson, this is a poem with the theme of either love&separation, death, Nature or God. Poem 622 has a theme of God, and also a unique writing style only Dickinson has, using the dashes. In line six, the “h” in “he” is capitalized, ultimately referring to God. A few lines later is in thought of death and refers to the last day Jesus was alive, and the questions of that days last thoughts. Emily was not religious growing up, although she lived in a religious community. This explains the constant reference to God in some of her work. You would think that Dickinson would use the dashes as a way to emphasize an important line, but in fact it is just her style in writing for her own importance. This quote is narrative, in which Dickinson is going through the thoughts she would personally have if she was in place of Jesus on this day being explained. None of these thoughts are defined, expecting that Dickinson was curious in the details that she did not know, for example when she writes, “Was Dying as He thought-or different- Was it a pleasant Day to die-.” It is impossible to know the answers of these lines unless you were the He that is being refereed to, and if there was life after death.

2. ”It smiles from the cradle; it lies

On the dust of the grave, and it cries

In the winds and the waters; it slips

In the flush of the leaf to the ground;

It troubles the kiss at my lips;

It lends to my laughter a...