Emily Dickinson
"The Brain - is wider than the Sky"
The Brain - is wider than the Sky -
For - put them side by side -
The one the other will contain
With ease - and You - beside-
The Brain is deeper than the sea -
For - hold them - Blue to Blue -
The one the other will absorb -
As sponges - Buckets - do
The Brain is just the weight of God -
For - Heft them - Pound for Pound -
And they will differ - if they do -
As syllable from Sound -
In Emily Dickinson's "The Brain - is wider than the Sky," we are confronted with a Romantic meditation on the nature of reality. We are introduced to three differentiated elements: the 'Brain', the 'Sky' or 'sea', and 'You'. I think that one can safely assume that the 'Sky' and the 'sea' represent nature, the not-me, and that the 'You' represents the individual, the me. It's a rather standard Romantic bifurcation of the world. The intriguing question is what does Dickinson mean by the 'Brain'. Her concept clearly has religious implications: "The Brain is just the weight of God." It suggests a definition of man that posits the 'Brain' or consciousness as a margin where the 'You'/me and 'Sky' or 'sea'/not-me intersect. It hearkens back to Emerson's Oversoul. It predicates monism, wherein man is just part of the greater whole, but possesses the ability to merge with the universe through the medium of the 'Brain.'
This represents the kind of response that I'm trying to elicit from your reading of poems. I would like you to anchor your discussion with clear references to the poem. Do this by incorporating quotes that prove what you posit. Notice that this response starts with a concise thesis statement that also identifies for the reader both the title and the author. It then proceeds to analyze what is being said. Notice that a question transitions to the second paragraph. What she means by the "brain" is essential to the overall meaning of the poem. It also identifies a word repeated three times within the poem. A stretch might argue that Dickinson wishes to invoke the trinity, but, more essentially, she's focusing on her real theme, and asking her readers to interrogate that word. You should always notice when poets employ repetition for emphasis.
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Significant websites for further study:
- Emily Dickinson International Society
- Emily Dickinson's Complete Poems from Barlteby.com
- Dickinson Electronic Archives
- Emily Dickinson Journal
- Emily Dickinson Page
Extra credit assignment: Choose a short poem by Emily Dickinson. Copy it. Then write two paragraphs about the poem where you use a strategy similar to what was previously employed in analyzing "The Brain - is wider than the Sky." Make sure that you have a declarative thesis statement that also identifies for the reader both the title and the author. Anchor your discussion with clear references back to the poem. Incorporate quotes that prove what you posit. Then analyze what is being said. Employ transition in proceeding to the second paragraph. Focus on a word or phrase that is essential to the overall meaning of the poem. Forward it to me by email.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
"Ozymandias"
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
ìMy name is Ozymandias, king of kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!î
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Ozymandias ñ The Greek name for Rameses II, thirteenth century B.C. pharoah of Egypt who died in 1225. According to a first century B.C. Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus, the largest statue in Egypt was inscribed: ìI am Ozymandias, king of kings; if anyone wishes to know what I am and where I lie, let him surpass me in some of my exploits.î
Significant websites for further study:
- The Percy Bysshe Shelley Resource Page
- Percy Byshhe Shelley's Complete Poetical Works from Barlteby.com
- Percy Byshhe Shelley - Biography and Works
- Percy Bysshe Shelley - The Academy of American Poets
Extra credit assignment: Choose one, then email me your response.
William Butler Yeats
"An Irish Airman Foresees His Death"
I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.
Significant websites for further study:
- Collected Poems of William Butler Yeats
- William Butler Yeats Collection at Barlteby.com
- William Butler Yeats - Biography and Works
- William Butler Yeats - The Academy of American Poets
Extra credit assignment: Choose one.
For _Literature Resources_