Emily Dickinson’s use of poetic diction in poems 585 and 754 brings to life two inanimate objects, a train and a gun, both of which perform actions that are useful to man. Though these items cannot act on their own, Dickinson’s diction provides them with their own movements, characteristics, and feelings. In poem 585, a train’s daily journey is given a meaning beyond that of a cold, iron machine when Dickinson describes its animal qualities to show its strength, stubbornness, and perseverance. In poem 754, a gun is portrayed as a protective, devoted servant. In both of these poems, Emily Dickinson uses diction to give a train and a gun characteristics of animals to explain their behavior and feelings and to show how man uses them to his advantage and to meet his goals.
In poem 585, Dickinson’s diction reveals traits of hunger and determination. In the first stanza, “I like to see it lap the Miles–/And lick the Valleys up–/And stop to feed itself at tanks” (ll. 1-3) describes the train as an animal that runs hungrily over great distances, devouring the land as it goes along, stopping occasionally to eat more substantial food to survive and to continue. Though it is able to perform powerful feats of transportation, the train needs nourishment, just like humans and animals do. With the following lines, Dickinson shows the determination of the train to meet his goal: “And, supercilious, peer/In Shanties—by the sides of Roads—And then a quarry pare/To fit its ribs” (ll. 6-9). These lines also suggest a stubborn determination. Even if the train has to crawl and cut through hundreds of yards of solid rock, nothing will stop this metal animal, not even a huge mountain. The train can drive…
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…Why would the master need protection?
In both poems, Emily Dickinson uses diction to provide the reader the opportunity to see inanimate objects with some human qualities, first in a determined, powerful train and then in a devoted, non-feeling gun. Though these are inanimate objects, the reader can get a sense of the influences and contributions they give to man. The train made a great impact on travel by allowing him to cover great distances in shorter times. It appears that this iron horse could take man anywhere. In Dickinson’s time the power of trains was an amazement in itself. With the rifle, man has control of something quite powerful, something that can kill but cannot be killed. With her skillful and interesting word choice, Dickinson brings to light the amazing strength of one object, the train, and the fearful power of another, the gun.
The Women of Eleonora, Ligeia, Berenice, and Morella
The Women of Eleonora, Ligeia, Berenice, and Morella
“Eleonora”, “Ligeia”, “Berenice”, and “Morella” are all tales of beautiful women who die, but they are hardly the same story. They contain many of the same elements and activities, but their genius comes in the unique and sometimes subtle differences and intense endings.
In all of the stories we have a narrator who is involved with a woman whose beauty entrances him. Some of the qualities of these women overlap in their description, but each narrator admires a unique quality that becomes their obsession. The death and resurrection of these women causes mental and emotional strain on the part of the narrator.
Berenice is described as “agile, graceful and overflowing with energy” with “gorgeous yet fantastic beauty”. Some of her physical characteristics included a high forehead and pale skin with “hollow temples” and curly hair. In this story the narrator is focused on Berenice’s teeth. “But from the distorted chamber of my brain; had not, alas! departed, and would not be driven away, the white and ghastly spectrum of her teeth”. Why the narrator chooses her teeth to obsess about is puzzling, perhaps they represent purity (Griffin) or they are special because they are the only things that did not change when she became ill. Ligeia is described as tall and slender with a “lofty pale forehead” and “skin rivaling the purest ivory”. “In the beauty of face no maiden ever equaled her”. The narrator notices the “gentle prominence of the regions above the temples” and her raven black tresses. But it is her “large eyes” that haunt him. Eleonora is given the characteristics of “bright eyes” and a “sweet voice”. The narrator says, “The loveliness of Eleonora was that of…
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…er intimate connection to nature?
Because all of these stories are told from male narrator’s point of view we are only allowed to know these women as the narrators knew them. And whether by their own admission or by the style of their narrative voice all of the narrators’ mental stability is brought into question. Will the reader accept the narrator’s account or does Poe intentionally cast doubt on these men to let the reader know these women only exist in the minds of the narrators?
In all of these stories the women possess the narrators in life and in death. While Poe may appear to be recycling these women, they each have unique purposes and characteristics. The attention to detail and the intricacies that Poe weaves into his tales of these women and the men in their lives, relying on the mysteries of the supernatural, makes these stories intense.