“Heaven is what I cannot reach,” wrote Emily Dickinson in one of her many poems. Again and again we find the same theme in his works. Her era emphasized the need for women to play a role as specified by the teachings of the Bible. Emily Dickinson's poetry reflects her deep desire to know God, but not in the way everyone around her wants; she fears the limiting effects that Christianity would have on her life and writes about these fears and desires in a way that makes readers want to know more. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay There is no doubt that his childhood sparked the questioning and confusion we see in his poems. Dickinson grew up in a wealthy and affluent family in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she was raised to be a devout and humble Christian. Her father, Edward Dickinson, tried to keep her away from any literary learning that would taint her education and her Christian values. However, this may have sparked a rebellious streak that led her to question her family's cherished beliefs. The idea of ​​the docile domestic life that her parents had promised would be her future caused her to withdraw from society. Aside from doctor visits, Dickinson never left her father's house and refused most visitors (Meyer). Alone in her room or wandering the gardens, Dickinson's mind must have been filled with ideas and her pen must have traveled across the page to jot them down on every scrap of paper that came to hand. what I can't achieve! by Dickinson is a story of frustration and perhaps desire for “paradise.” She begins the poem with an allusion to Tantalus, the man who was punished with fruit and water just out of reach (ll. 2-3). The fact that heaven is simply out of reach for her may be an indirect reference to her inability to understand or grasp the concept of heaven, or to the fact that she is so close to reaching her personal heaven, but she does not can't seem to access it. Because she went against her parents' religious teachings, Dickinson may feel that heaven will be denied to her. Her use of em dashes throughout the poem is rather confusing, although I believe she uses them in place of commas. “Color, on the cruising cloud” could refer to the beautiful colors that are sometimes reflected on clouds affected by sunlight, ephemeral and inaccessible (Meyer l. 5). Dickinson can see heaven but is unable to reach it. The “land” she seeks is “forbidden,” it is forbidden to her (Meyer l. 6). Her happiness is hindered by her family and society's need to conform to her duties as a woman. His sense of individualism moves away from anything that might limit his ability to grow intellectually and spiritually. Dickinson longs for “Paradise,” but he seems to mock her with “gullible lure” and she is rejected by “the Conjurer” – perhaps God (Meyer ll. 8-12)? The “Conjurer” might even be her father, who “conjured” her back to life and thus scorns her lack of interest in conforming to the whims of society. So, not only is she unable to reach her paradise, but she also feels ridiculed by the powers that be, including her own father. Scholars who have read his works are convinced that his views on God and Christianity were both painful and bitter. Scott Pett, a student at Georgia State University, has written extensively on religious overtonespresent in Dickinson's book: “Heaven is what I cannot reach! In his thesis he notes: The connection between "Heaven" (in quotation marks) and Heaven (without the quotation marks) lies in the speaker's ability to locate them - the difference being his ability to experience only one . The first requires that the speaker "extend" beyond his reach, meaning that the paradise of religious institutions, being inaccessible, is not a paradise at all. The idea that Dickinson believed the Christian version of Heaven to be unattainable may explain why she avoided traditional views of God and practices surrounding religion. An English professor at Brooklyn College sums up this point perfectly: Although she came close to converting once, she never felt God's calling, a lack that caused her considerable worry and pain: "C t's a dangerous time for anyone when meaning loses its meaning. things and Life is straight – and punctual – and yet no signal [from God] comes. » His attitude towards God in his poems ranges from friendliness to anger and bitterness, and He is sometimes indifferent, sometimes cruel. (Melani) Dickinson seeks heaven, God. Her friends and family all had the wonderful experience of having a relationship with the Almighty, but it never happened for her. Confusion and bitterness must have raged within her as she watched others achieve what she couldn't. The cruel God who mocks and rejects her desire to know him fuels her poetry. Pett noted that "sky takes one of two forms in Dickinson's poems and letters, although she often uses the same word to describe each: sky as place and sky as idea or experience ". Dickinson is able to take full advantage of the ambiguity of the term in her poems, refusing to clarify which term she is talking about, and perhaps making the poem all the richer. The poem “Some Keep the Sabbath by Going to Church” seems rather ironic about how others worship God. Dickinson speaks of the Christian Sabbath. While “some” attend church, the speaker observes the Sabbath at home in her garden, a rather unconventional place to hold a sermon (Meyer ll. 1-2). She has "a Bobolink for a choir-- / And an orchard, for a dome (Meyer ll. 3-4). Instead of a choir, the speaker listens to the song of a black bird called Bobolink. She worships God under the branches of trees rather than under the dome of a church Some may even suggest that the word "Dome" is a synecdoche for the Christian church as a whole In addition to listening to the Bobolink. again to refer to the bird), the speaker makes a Sexton, normally the bell ringer, sing, as described in lines 7 and 8. "Some keep the Sabbath in surplices" (Meyer l. 5). The speaker is referring to the fact that worshipers wear formal clothing, while she ". just wear[s] [his] wings” (Meyer l. 6). She compares herself to a bird, so by wings we can only assume she means her everyday clothes (or perhaps angel's wings, given the ending of the poem) Another interpretation of her wings could be the widespread belief that those who are saved receive wings in death. In line 9, the speaker says, “God preaches, a noted clergyman.” » The tone of this line seems ironic, as if. people don't normally notice it. The speaker then prefers to listen to a message from God which is not pronounced through the mouth of a priest. Standing out in nature, listening to the birds and the life around her, the speaker gains a deeper meaning. At the end of the poem, in lines 11 and 12, the speaker says, “instead of finally going to heaven… / I’m going there, all along.” InThis, the meaning is clear: where people seek to reach Heaven throughout their lives by going to Church, the speaker claims that she is already in Heaven. Dickinson's statement that she already exists in heaven, despite her disregard for usual Christian values ​​and lack of a relationship with the Lord, is perhaps more of a defensive boast than a truth. Fear is evident in Dickinson’s “He Gropes Your Soul.” This poem seems to describe the process of conversion. Although Dickinson was never converted, her friends and family must have been great examples of what God did in their lives and how it affected them. According to Dickinson, God “scalps your naked soul” when someone experiences conversion (Meyer l. 12). It evokes rawness and vulnerability, as if he is taking something from the converted. Additionally, the use of the word "Paws" in line thirteen does not reflect the traditional gentle God of Christianity, but gives the reader the image of a beast, such as a bear or a wolf. The fear surrounding these two lines shows that Dickinson may have been afraid of the God that her family claimed controlled the world and her life as well as her inevitable death. The simile used at the beginning of the poem suggests that God “plays” with our souls before taking them as His own. Melani talks about it: “Dickinson uses the simile of a musician's playing to describe God's technique of conversion. » This technique seems to start slowly, according to Dickinson. Using the same simile, God acts like a pianist, who begins a song with an introduction before entering into the song itself. Early in conversion, the person likely meets someone who has a calling from the Lord, who then inspires the newcomer to join them in prayer or religious service; an introduction to His Word. After this introduction, God begins to act in his life so that the person sees something or has an experience that he can only explain by an act of God; preparation for conversion. “It gradually stuns you-- / Prepares your fragile nature / For the ethereal blow” (Meyer ll. 4-6). The “ethereal blow,” of course, is the spiritual blow of conversion. "The blows of God are spiritual; therefore the blow of the hammers (of the piano) is ethereal. (The meaning of ethereal used here is celestial or celestial)" (Melani). Finally, when the soul is most flexible to its will, God takes it, providing an intense encounter with the Holy Spirit as the person fully converts to the faith. God “gives an imperial thunderbolt” and the soul finally belongs to him. Dickinson's search for answers continues in "My Period Came for Prayer." In it, she seeks direct communication with God, perhaps desperate for confirmation of His existence or simply wanting to experience Him as her family members did. “His house was not – no sign had he – / By chimney – nor by door – / May I infer his residence –” (Meyer ll. 9-11). Despite her prayers, Dickinson is unable to reach him, unable to contact him. She searches for him, but finds nothing other than "heavenly barrenness," as Pett puts it, "thus inducing in the speaker a state of worship for the absence of God in the fifth stanza... Worship replaces prayer as a decisive link with the spiritual realm.” : The Silence condescended – Creation stopped – for me – But impressed beyond my mission – I worshiped – I did not “pray” – (Meyer ll. 17-20) Finding the place where God is supposed to be but is not, Dickinson is amazed rather than disappointed. In this case, Pett says that the final lines of the poem illustrate that being unable to communicate with God does not necessarily mean an "identity.