Sean Racicot-Psaledakis Mr.

Wood AP English Literature and Composition 2 November 2012

Racicot- Psaledakis 1

Paradise in Poetry Emily Dickinsons story is in some ways a sad one, and in others quite normal. As a young woman, Dickinson presented with a social flair. However, this affinity for society faded as she grew older (Emily Dickinson Museum). She lost many friends and relatives in her youth, and later in life had a few dalliances with men, but never settled into a relationship. She was as they would have called her in the mid 1800s a spinster, spending her life with only the company of her cousins and close relatives. Her loneliness is often reflected in her poetry (Poets), along with her questions about death and immortality (Emily Dickinson Museum). Dickinson was never publicly recognized for her work in her lifetime, so she wrote only for herself, letters, and small publications. The first volume featuring her work was published posthumously (Poets). Dickinson was recorded as remarking that she recognized poetry from a feeling it gave her, a physical reaction to the piece, as opposed to any metrical or literary terms (Emily Dickinson Museum). This is especially evident in I Dwell in Possibility, a poem about poetry. She says I dwell in Possibility - /A fairer House than Prose already denoting a ranking of types of writing, as well as a personification by capitalizing Possibility, House, and Prose. She finishes the stanza with More numerous of Windows - /Superior for Doors literally describing the difference between these two dwellings. The subtext however, adds more meaning. A home or dwelling meant a great deal to Dickinson, for in her later years, she rarely left her property, preferring walks, gardening,

Racicot-Psaledakis 2 and reading to other company. She says that she dwells in her poetry (Possibility) rather than investing in typical writing, because she finds it more free and open to possibilities, with more windows to look out of and more doors to open and explore, utilizing a House as a metaphor for writing style. She continues to describe this House of Possibility saying it is Of Chambers as the Cedars - /Impregnable of Eye stating that there is a privacy within writing poetry which does not exist in Prose, perhaps because poetry does not lay all of the facts and essentials out in front of the reader as straightforward writing does, instead it holds something back that will be only for the author. She also says And for an Everlasting Roof/ The Gambrels of the Sky bringing in another tie to nature and openness to ones environment. The natural world is the one constant companion that Dickinson would be able to refer to in her writings. She did not have constant company from other people, but even in total desolation there is the surrounding world. Also, the presence of an Everlasting Roof implies that Possibility will always shelter those who dwell in it which she implies to be an eternal state. Even in her isolation, Dickinson found a joy and company, for Of Visitors the fairest came to her. These Visitors are most likely memories, thoughts, or concepts that were precious to her. For Occupation This - /The spreading wide my narrow Hands/To gather Paradise These lines are quite literal in meaning: Dickinsons job and purpose was to gather Paradise, the nature and Possibility around her, making of small things my narrow Hands great works. This is the meaning of this joyous poem: that one can find and obtain the greatest things through creation of poetry, by embracing Possibility and everything that surrounds us.

Racicot-Psaledakis 3 Emily Dickinson was a woman full of questions, always ready with a rhetorical question pertaining to human purpose, existence, and individuality (Museum). But in I Dwell in Possibility she took a moment to simply extoll her joyous occupation. Throughout she relates poetry to natural occurrences the privacy of a glade of cedars, the permanence of the sky because she finds to be natural. The world around us is a paradise, and all that is necessary is to spread our hands, gather it, and embrace the Possibilities.

Racicot-Psaledakis 4 Works Cited "Emily Dickinson." - Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/155>. "Emily Dickinson: The Writing Years (1855-1865) | Emily Dickinson Museum." Emily Dickinson: The Writing Years (1855-1865) | Emily Dickinson Museum. Amherst College, 2009. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/writing_years>.