It Feels a Shame to Be Alive (Dickinson) - Analysis Essay

Discuss the poem It Feels a Shame to be Alive, by Emily Dickonson in conjuction with Jay Parinis statement â€Å"poetry gives voice to what is not usually said† The American Civil War was one of the most violent eras of American history. It was during this period that the poems written by Emily Dickinson carry the most meaning. Jay Parini said, â€Å"poetry gives voice to what is not usually said†, It feels a shame to be alive, by Emily Dickinson is about death and it questions the bravery of the living. Despite death being a part of day-to-day life during a time of war, death was an unknown state of being and for this reason it scared people and the topic was avoided, as it still is today. This poem questions the bravery of those who live â€Å"When†¦show more content†¦Rather, citizens possess soldiers more as a commodity to be spent for â€Å"Liberty†. In this case, the â€Å"Whom† in the first line represents non-fighting citizens and the â€Å"possessed† in the third shows how these citizens viewed the soldiers. The third stanza of this poem asks the reader whether the society of the time really deserved such a great price paid for their freedom. â€Å"-a Thing- / that lives - like dollars – must be piled.† With these two lines, readers see the visual image of bodies piling up and understand the relationship between the price that supposedly must be paid for â€Å"a Thing† or freedom. Life seems to be something that can be expended just as people count and stack money when paying for a purchase without truly realizing its worth. Comparing life to dollars poses the question of whether all lives are of equal worth, or if some lives are worth more than others. In the fourth stanza, Dickinson asks whether the lives of those who survive worth all the lives sacrificed in battle, similar to her message in the third stanza. Are our lives, â€Å"we that wait†, worthy of something so beautiful as someone’s life, the â€Å"Enormous Pearl† being destroyed in something so brutal as battle. The line â€Å"In Battle’s – horrid bowl† gives the image of a brutal and bloody turmoil that, like the curved edges of a bowl, is inescapable. The spelling of â€Å"reknown† is the only time Emily uses thisShow MoreRelatedANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesï » ¿TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS The purpose of Text Interpretation and Analysis is a literary and linguistic commentary in which the reader explains what the text reveals under close examination. Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed â€Å"model†Read MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 PagesYou now owe it to Juanita and Emilio to give them the reasons behind your decision. Your first reason, let’s say, is that you discounted Emilios remark that if the stream were poisonous then everything in it would look dead. Deadly things can be alive and look healthy. You mention salmonella on delicious turkey burgers. You are certain that there are microbes that harm humans but do not harm plants and fish; you mention to Juanita and Emilio that crabgrass and catfish do not catch cholera. Your