Does Emily Dickinson Use Imagery In Some Keep The Sabbath Going To Church

However, Dickinson’s poem is very different from Whitman’s in structure and language. In “324,” the speaker explains how they observe Sabbath, in nature rather than going to a service, when saying “With a Bobolink for a Chorister — / And an Orchard, for a Dome —” (lines 4-5). Dickinson, like Whitman, provides visual imagery; of a bird instead of the Church choir and an orchard instead of the “Dome,” which represents a church. In these lines, readers can envision the beautiful nature scene that the speaker treasures. Furthermore, as Whitman also did, Dickinson uses auditory imagery as the speaker explains further how the spend their Sabbath, “And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church, / Our little Sexton — sings” (lines 8-9). Here, the sounds of the Church’s bell is what the speaker traded for the charming bird’s song in their form of worship. Like Whitman, Dickinson uses imagery to illustrate to readers her preference for nature that connects her to God and religion, unlike for many others who choose to attend church. Moreover, in contrast to Whitman’s poem, Dickinson writes in an abcb rhyme scheme where the second and fourth lines rhyme and have a meter. To demonstrate, every even-numbered line rhymes; Home” and “Dome,” “Wings” and “sings,” “long” and “along.”

The narrator believes you do not have to attend church to be spiritual and that common practice can be done in a peaceful place such as the orchard in her yard. The last two lines of the poem state, “So instead of getting to Heaven, at last- / I’m going, all along” (Dickinson 639). I interpreted this as the long journey to heaven has become a huge part of her life. It is not just a look into the future, but a continuous look in the present. The symbols Dickinson uses in this poem are by far the highlight of this short piece of poetry. In the first stanza, a bobolink and orchard are used to replace things that modern churches value as sacred and holy. Those natural occurrences are used by Dickinson to show her love for nature. More examples of this are shown in the second stanza. The narrator uses her own “sexton” to call her holly time instead of a brass bell to call church service. This is important to analyze as yet another natural occurrence that highly defines the authors writing style.

In one of my favorite poems by Emily Dickinson, ‘39’ or [49] published in 1858, she almost parallels the life of Job in the Bible who lost all he had, but because he was faithful all of his loss was restored; I like that there are so many ways to interpret the loss and blame in this very short poem; for example, her loss could be a loss of possession or a loss of a child because “in the sod” could refer to either to an actual plot of land with its crops and the possessions that would come with it or to burying deceased children; to be a beggar could mean that she is literally poor and landless, which would mean that she had no way to provide for herself, or that she had no children and prayed for them; when she says that angels “reimbursed

In "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church", Emily Dickinson shows insecurities with attending church, and explains why she would rather stay at home. Her life at home reflects her poem, and her culture at the time may have something to do with her reclusive behavior. To question your religion would be to cast yourself out of society. In Dickinson's, "A Description of Herself" she states that the books her father brings her are religious "except me", which further proves that she has insecurities about religion. Dickinson's continual questioning of religion makes her behavior reclusive, and fuels the writing of, "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church."

To put the description short, this is Dickinson telling her readers that religious freedom is obtainable. Even if you do not attend a church or sermon God will accept you. With four lines of poetry she puts religious freedom out in the open.

In the poem, Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson, she writes, “Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves and Immortality.” (Stanza 1). This conveys how Emily had come upon her time of death, and the Grim Reaper arrived to take her away on a carriage to death. This is important to note because it’s figurative meaning determines that Dickinson made the grim reaper seem more of a companion or real concept that takes her to her new destination, instead of a scary, and vile figure that snatches her life away, because she feels accepting of her death. In the fourth stanza, Dickinson states, “We paused before a house that seemed a swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, the cornice but a mound.”

Many authors are afraid to express their personal feelings on such a topic as death. Being a touchy subject, the fear of losing an audience comes into question. Such a theme isn’t an issue for Emily Dickinson however, writing meaningful poems and does it in an extraordinary way with describing the sensitive matter of death while still being able to control the reader’s emotions such as that in "Because I could not stop for death" and” I heard a fly buzz- when I died". Sharing the common rhythm about death, but differ in tone and mood towards the subject. Her use of metaphors and setting descriptions are expressively throughout these poems, giving the audience a more emotional toile from each of these.

In “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church” Emily Dickinson utilizes metaphors to illustrate how she observes her worship experience. She accomplishes this task using words or phrases to represent elements in her environment that convey to the reader where she worships, how she worships, and her belief in worship. Emily Dickinson views the Sabbath, a day during the week that a religious person would attend a worship service, by staying home. This is shown in the first lines of her poem, “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church- / I keep it staying Home” (Dickinson 95), which clearly identifies where she worships.

Although many of Emily Dickinson’s poems are short they carry many meaningful and sayings and ideas. The unique style of her poems has caused many to ponder at her works, but is nevertheless monumental. The length and the dashes used by Dickinson is what makes her poems so interesting an inspiring to read. In the poem “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church”, Dickinson uses dashes to emphasize her points.

Emily Dickinson: The Individual and God Emily Dickinson, one of the greatest poets of the 19th century wrote remarkable and sophisticated works of literature about the unimportance of God towards the individual. Poems 215 (What is-”Paradise”-) and poem 437 (Prayer is the Little Implement) portray this inessentiality of God and how He is irrelevant to man. During the 19th century, Emily Dickinson rejects the social belief in religion and therefore challenges God through her works. Both poems questions the existence of God, her disconnection of religion, and ultimately the unimportance of God in life.

Religious freedom is the United States first American freedom. It is essential to an individual’s spiritual life and their own salvation. It is the freedom to share one’s faith and beliefs in their own way. Emily Dickinson’s poem “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church -” expresses her own religious beliefs. The poem is a rejection of traditional religious behavior that takes place during her time. She sees religion as a private matter for the individual. The poem indicates that one does not have to attend church in accordance with society to show one’s faith and beliefs. She writes, “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church - / I keep it, staying at Home -” (lines 1-2). Dickinson compares her home as a place to worship. The feeling one has to conform to a church’s Christian views and not their own draw them to worship in their own way. Many choose to stay home and worship as Emily Dickinson did in her poem. Others may choose to worship in other places or ways. Religious freedom gives individuals the freedom to think, to act, and to follow their own beliefs and faith.

In the line that reads, “And an Orchard, for a dome,” Dickinson uses imagery to paint a picture for the reader(4, 1668). The image is an orchard of trees that provides her with a safe place for worship instead of the traditional church sanctuary. She is suggesting that nature, the things unspoiled by humankind, is whatone really needs for worship and gaining a relationship with God. The practices that many religions believe have to be performed are unnecessary because God is with you all the time and not just when you are in church. It is just as

he could feel the tree moving in the wind as if it was his own body. He

way is better but rather that her way is just as good as the way of

Here however the tone of the poem changes. The monosyllabic hopping rhythm gives way to the smooth, flowing motion of flight twinned with the image of nautically based images. “And rowed him softer home” is extended by the final stanza to create a softer tone to the final lines of the poem. The alliteration of “Oars...Ocean” and “Silver...Seam” accompanied with the slant rhyme of “Seam...Swim” remove this adverse idea of nature in its true beauty and actually portrays nature in the way Dickinson presumed the reader wanted to see it. These techniques all build up this climax of a beautiful bird through flight across the vast oceans epitomising what nature really is about. Although the final stanza could be interpreted differently as it is created in a rather abstract form. Nature could be attempted to be shown