Emily Dickinson and Volcanoes

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Emily Dickinson is one of the most revered American poets of all time and how her tightly written verse, her perceptions of nature, love and death and her own reclusive lifestyle combine to make her life as fascinating as her poetry. It explores one element of her work which stands out above all the rest as a metaphor for her tightly bound passions, the volcano. It analyzes how although they aren't mentioned nearly as often as birds, bees and flowers, volcanoes are a natural phenomenon that appear with notable frequency in Dickenson's poetry. It looks at how for women who lived during Dickinson's time, passion "be it anger or sexual feelings" were considered so taboo that the release of these feelings was as explosive as a volcano: Trapped just beneath a calm exterior, ready to burst at any moment and possibly destroy anything it touches. It evaluates how in Dickinson's works, the volcano becomes a way of expressing a feeling of fiery dissatisfaction inside a reserved, often mysterious exterior.

From the Paper:

"Poem 601, "A Still" volcano "life" begins by likening the mighty flickering of a volcano to an intense secret routine. After the speaker associates the still volcano to a living being in the first line, line two mentions that the person "flicker(s)" at night. The next two lines point out the covertness as well as the habitual nature of the life, only being able to go about its normal business "when it was dark enough to do / without erasing sight." (3-4) The fact that the being knows to shimmer at night to avoid causing blindness suggests that "she" has done it before, and has perhaps already blinded (or otherwise permanently injured) someone by burning too brightly during the day."

More papers on Emily Dickinson and Volcanoes:

• Poem Review # 33687 : "Emily Dickinson And The Struggle To Believe"
• Essay # 86482 : "Emily Dickinson and the Symbolism of Birds"
• Poem Review # 122835 : "Emily Dickinson and Dualism"

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