Emily Dickinson Personification
Each season brings with it a new sensation. With the coming of winter, some may experience a sense of loneliness or isolation. With summer, energy and excitement exist in abundance. Autumn may entail a crisp sense of comfort. However, spring stands apart; the coming of spring, as Dickinson elucidates in her poem “A Light exists in Spring,” brings not just a fleeting emotion, but a renewal of the soul. The season tends to transcend the category of ‘season,’ and more accurately takes on the form of a revival. By utilizing personification, Dickinson is able to bring to life the natural elements that form the essence of spring, while implicitly relating these intrinsic qualities of spring to her faith. Throughout most of her works, Dickinson tends
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While explicitly Dickinson utilizes personification to speak of spring as an illumination of her world, implicitly she uses the springtime light/atmosphere to symbolize her religious beliefs and the ‘light’ that those beliefs fill her with. When Dickinson describes this springtime light as something that “science cannot overtake but human nature feels” (Dickinson 7-8), she is giving an obvious nod to the parallels between her affinity for spring and her religious beliefs. Much like the light of spring, one’s faith is something that cannot be scientifically measured or even seen; it can only be felt, and is therefore real. This light, or one’s faith, is described as “wait[ing] upon the lawn” (Dickinson 9). This personification implies that one’s faith will cease to rush or pass one by, but instead will patiently wait for him and act as a respite from the world, regardless of the circumstance or the busyness of life. This light is known to “show the furthest tree upon the furthest slope you know” (Dickinson 10-11), demonstrating the effect that this omnipresent light, or faith, has on the spirit. This light illuminates every aspect of one’s world. However, as “Noons report away” (Dickinson 14), the positive outlook the springtime light brings can go along with the departing season, leaving one vulnerable to
While explicitly Dickinson utilizes personification to speak of spring as an illumination of her world, implicitly she uses the springtime light/atmosphere to symbolize her religious beliefs and the ‘light’ that those beliefs fill her with. When Dickinson describes this springtime light as something that “science cannot overtake but human nature feels” (Dickinson 7-8), she is giving an obvious nod to the parallels between her affinity for spring and her religious beliefs. Much like the light of spring, one’s faith is something that cannot be scientifically measured or even seen; it can only be felt, and is therefore real. This light, or one’s faith, is described as “wait[ing] upon the lawn” (Dickinson 9). This personification implies that one’s faith will cease to rush or pass one by, but instead will patiently wait for him and act as a respite from the world, regardless of the circumstance or the busyness of life. This light is known to “show the furthest tree upon the furthest slope you know” (Dickinson 10-11), demonstrating the effect that this omnipresent light, or faith, has on the spirit. This light illuminates every aspect of one’s world. However, as “Noons report away” (Dickinson 14), the positive outlook the springtime light brings can go along with the departing season, leaving one vulnerable to