Emily Dickinson and the Symbolism of Birds

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes three poems by Emily Dickinson reflecting the symbolic bird as a vehicle for hope, despair, and the single unwed. The paper explains that this relationship between bird and human emotion are common, because they suggest a deeper way for Dickinson to free her soul. By transforming gender roles in marriage, issues of hope and faith, and the problems of despair and depression in the creative process, Dickinson soars with bird symbols as a process and tool for her complex works.

From the Paper:

"Emily Dickinson and the Symbolism of Birds In this study, the symbolic theme of birds will be analyzed three of Emily Dickinson's poems. By creating a three-tiered analysis of each of these poems, one can realize how birds represent the human emotions of despair/ depression, the life of the single unwed, and the feeling of hope that arises within the text. By taking these three poems, one can begin to understand how the bird symbolically represents different emotions within the writings of Emily Dickinson. In the first poem analyzed here "To Hear an Oriole Sing" one can understand the prototypical reflection of how Dickinson relates her narrative within the poem. The basis of the single unwed lifestyle is presented here through the symbolic Oriole that sings alone, and not for the general publics gender stereotypes."

More papers on Emily Dickinson and the Symbolism of Birds:

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• Poem Review # 33687 : "Emily Dickinson And The Struggle To Believe"
• Poem Review # 122835 : "Emily Dickinson and Dualism"

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