Free Essays: Impact of the Word on Dickinson :: Biography Biographies Essays

Impact of the Word on Dickinson In Donald E. Thackreys essay The Communication of the Word, he talks ab disclose how the power of the individual newsworthiness, in particular, seems to demand inspired her with nonhing less than reverence (51). Dickinson approached her poetry inductively, that is, she combined words to arrive at whatever conclusion the patterns of the words suggested, rather than starting out with a specific theme or message. Instead of purposefully working toward a final philosophical point, Dickinson preferred to use series of staccato inspirations (51). Dickinson ofttimes used words with weight in her work, and as a result her works usually cannot be grasped fully in one reading without dissecting all(prenominal) word individually. Often Dickinson would compile large, alternative word lists for a poetry before she would come to a decision on which word was just remediate for the impact she wished to achieve (52). For example, this poetry displays Dickinsons use of alternative, thesaurus-like lists Had but the tale a thrilling, typic, hearty, bonnie, breathless, spacious, tropic, warbling, ardent, friendly, magic, pungent, winning, mellow teller All the boys would come Orpheuss sermon captivated, It did not condemn. Eventually, Dickinson came to rest on the word warbling, but one can see the meticulous care that she put into the decision on which word to use. Another poem of Dickinsons that shows her compositional method is Shall I Take Thee? the Poet Said. In this poem, Dickinson discusses from where the power of the world comes. Shall I take thee? the poet said To the propounded word. Be stationed with the candidates Till I hold up further tried. The poet probed philology And when about to ring For the suspended candidate, There came unsummoned in That portion of the vision The word applied to fill. Not unto nomination The cherubim reveal. In the antecedent poem, one can see the artistic style come throu gh her composition. The best representation of that particular idea comes from the author Donald Thackrey when he says It is significant that the revealed word comes unsummoned in a flash of intuition.and yet the implication of the poem is that the revealing of the word must be preceded by the preparatory, conscious, rational effort of look into philologyShe Dickinson herself was well aware that inspiration, while all-sufficient when present, seldom came even to a great poet.