06.09.2021 Views

Becoming America - An Exploration of American Literature from Precolonial to Post-Revolution, 2018a

Becoming America - An Exploration of American Literature from Precolonial to Post-Revolution, 2018a

Becoming America - An Exploration of American Literature from Precolonial to Post-Revolution, 2018a

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

BECOMING AMERICA<br />

REVOLUTIONARY AND EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD LITERATURE<br />

But never met this Fellow,<br />

Attended, or alone<br />

Without a tighter breathing<br />

<strong>An</strong>d Zero at the Bone —<br />

4.26.29 #1263 [Tell all the truth but tell it slant]<br />

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant —<br />

Success in Circuit lies<br />

Too bright for our inrm Delight<br />

The Truth’s superb surprise<br />

As Lightning <strong>to</strong> the Children eased<br />

With explanation kind<br />

The Truth must dazzle gradually<br />

Or every man be blind —<br />

4.26.30 #1773 [My life closed twice before it’s close]<br />

My life closed twice before its close—<br />

It yet remains <strong>to</strong> see<br />

If Immortality unveil<br />

A third event <strong>to</strong> me<br />

So huge, so hopeless <strong>to</strong> conceive<br />

As these that twice befell.<br />

Parting is all we know <strong>of</strong> heaven,<br />

<strong>An</strong>d all we need <strong>of</strong> hell.<br />

4.26.31 Reading and Review Questions<br />

1. Many <strong>of</strong> Dickinson’s poems are rhythmically similar <strong>to</strong> popular<br />

nineteenth-century songs. How do those similarities help us understand<br />

Dickinson’s poetry?<br />

2. Death and isolation are common themes in Dickinson’s poetry, yet her<br />

poems rarely seem melancholy. What elements prevent her poems <strong>from</strong><br />

becoming <strong>to</strong>o solemn?<br />

3. How do Dickinson’s poems support or challenge what we think we know<br />

about gender roles in the nineteenth century?<br />

4. Compare and contract Dickinson’s isolation with Whitman’s aggressively<br />

public persona.<br />

Page | 1498

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!