Initially, the poem seems to be a call from a very depressed author who “guesses” she is alive and dreams of her own funeral. While reading the poem for the first time, one immediately falls into the rhythm and “flows” with the poem. The iambic meter, the meter and style of normal speech, is easy to read and not very taxing on the brain, lips, or eyes. This sets up a strong, secure base, which allows for

The key to emphasizing the lifelessness of society is first, quickly sucking the reader into an easy-to-read and “fun” poem. While the poem has this fun, happy rhythm does not reveal a happy scene for the public. It does reveal, however, the happiness and security, which Dickinson finds in Thee! This conflict, coupled with the destruction of the rhythm, emphasizes how easy it is to sway society and lead it, without its knowledge, into destruction. The ease with which readers fall in to the initial happy tone emphasizes society’s “security” in day-to-day life, while the ease with which it she destroys it unmasks a breech in the “security,” showing that society’s security is artificial. Lastly, Dickinson’s use of iambic meter, the “meter of life,” in the sense that normal conversations resemble iambic meter, exposes the chaos and monotony in socially accepted “life,” in order to explain in detail the perils she has escaped. Not only does Dickinson use the meter of life s!

Emily Dickinson never married, a sign of her absolute disgust for gender roles in society. She restates this feeling again in this poem by stating that she is alive because she is still, “marked (by) Girlhood’s name.”(line 21) Still using her maiden name allows Dickinson to keep her distance from the world and not view herself as a hypocrite. She repeatedly argues why she is alive and free, why society is lifeless and enslaved by itself. She states that she “is alive-because I do not own a house,”(line 18) forcing her to maintain it, decorate it, or be tied down. She also adds that “I am alive- because / I am not in a Room- / The Parlor-Commonly- It is- / so visitors may come,“(lines 9-12) explaining her disgust for the need to

Some topics in this essay:
Emily Dickinson, Lastly Dickinson’s, Dickinson Thee, Emily Dickinson’s, reading poem, emily dickinson, Living Life, “accepted society”, iambic meter, birth had- /, disgust gender roles, had- / this-besides, true meaning poem, depressed apathetic, true meaning, rules restrictions, meaning poem, / this-besides, birth had-,