Charles Kwang

Period 2
When looking into the writings of Emily Dickinson you notice that the theme of death is
everywhere; however, it also varies in its tone and diction making them significantly different.
One dignity delays for all talks about death being a event that no one escape. Throughout the
poem its described as purple and a crown. These two words set the tone for how death is felt
about in this poem. Purple is a color that implies royalty as does the crown, implying that Emily
Dickinson believes death is a grand event that people should celebrate about.
In contrast, the other poem, Twas warm at first like us, uses a different shift upon the
tone. It begins as the title does, [t]was warm at first like us,/Until there crept upon/A chill, like
frost upon a glass.(line 1-3) The poem from then shifts off using words like cold, ache, buys,
and stone to convey a different tone, one that makes death less of a party than One dignity
delays for all does.