Emily Dickinson’s Peculiar Points of View in Describing Death

Emily Dickinson is one of the most well known poetesses for her marvelous imagination. Her poems are famous for their own peculiarity. We can find ourselves in an entirely new world the moment we read her poems， especially her death poems， in which the poet describes death not only from the viewpoint of the living， but also from the viewpoint of the dead. In this way， the poet can give us a much more vivid portrait of death and makes us get a better understanding of death.

From the spectator of death

In her poem， J1149， the little girl， having seen the funeral procession from the window， considered a persons death as taking a long journey. However， in fact， the road that the dead tread on was a non-return road. Here， the poet has already recognized the essential distinction between common “parting” and “death”. That is， when a person die， he cannot return to the human world， and the relationship between the living and the dead will be cut down completely.

In many of her poems， the poet plays the role of a spectator to observe every moment of a person in his deathbed and record the process of death. Such as Ive seen a dying eye， The last Night that she lived， How many times these low feet staggered， etc.

From the personal experience of death

In some of Dickinsons poems， she successfully described the dead persons subjective consciousness at the very moment that Death was coming. Therefore， it broke the conventional view that death equals to unconsciousness. In the poem， I felt a Funeral in my brain， the poet as a dying person calmly felt everything surrounding her. Such as， mourners “kept treading—treading—”， “A service， like a Drum—kept beating—beating—”， etc. All the noise surrounded and the coming of the silent death form a sharp contrast. Then the dying persons brain was “going numb”. At last， she felt herself “Dropped down and down” till “Finished knowing”.

In I heard a Fly buzz—when I Died， the poet also described the momentary death. But she added an important image—the fly. The buzzing fly seemed to be a kind of harbinger of death， waiting for the last breath of the dying person to pass. The fly firstly buzzed in the perfectly quiet room， then it developed to uncertain stumbling buzz， and at last the sound disappeared. The description of the fly reflected how the dying persons state changed from having consciousness into unconsciousness. That the quietness of the room was broken by the buzz of the fly also meant the coming of Death. Soon afterwards， the poets consciousness was becoming more and more declined. Then the fly came between the poet and the light， “the windows failed”. The windows here seemed to be the poets eyes， which could no longer sense the light， and then the poet moved into the blackness of death. In this whole process of description， the poet subjectively maintained her composure and calmness， which brought us a rational experience of death.

What impresses us most in these poems are Emily Dickinsons peculiar points of view used in describing death and the distinctive， fresh images of death. In such unique way of dealing with death， Dickinson gives us a vivid description of death and makes her knowledge of death easily understood and accepted to us.

作者簡介：徐郁民，英语语言文学硕士，连云港中医药高职校，副教授。endprint