Emily Dickinson's poetry covers a wide range of topics, including poetic vision, love, nature, prayer, death, God, Christ and immortality. There is, however, a unity to his poetry in that it focuses primarily on religion. Full of contradictions, moods and varied perspectives, his poems offer insight into a complex and intelligent mind who struggled all his life against religious beliefs. Clearly, she resisted her church and school's expectations that she publicly identify with the community of believers and wholeheartedly accept their traditional doctrines. She chose to define her own beliefs rather than accept the "boundaries" of the mold of structured religion: an issue she struggled with until her death. This fight is characterized in his poetry by a constant questioning of the goodness of God, an identification with the sufferings of Christ and, ultimately, by the absence of link between a suffering Christ and a loving God, and between a triumphant Christ and the hope of humanity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Although Dickinson's struggle was deeply internal, external influences played an important role, particularly in the fields of science, philosophy, religion, and literature. The traditional Protestant worldview was being challenged by a gradual shift toward naturalism, due in part to Darwin's publication of "The Origin of Species" in 1850 (when Dickinson was twenty). Dickinson asks questions and raises doubts about accepted knowledge and worldviews that seem almost ahead of her time. She maintains an unwavering confidence in the existence of absolute truth, but with keen observations of realistic details, her deep understanding of human psychology, and her unique gift of poetic expression, she asks questions that still continue to be debated in literature today. The religious climate of Amherst was hardly harsh and puritanical, as is generally assumed, but was instead characterized by a "curious mixture of Whig republicanism and evangelical moralism" (Lundin 13). The strict Calvinism of the Puritans had blended with American culture to produce a religion of inner reform, restraint, and service to an orderly and godly society. Some of Dickinson's poetry reveals her disdain for religious hypocrisy and her outward attempts to appear righteous. Poems like “401” and “324” are examples of this rejection, not only of hypocrisy, but also of conforming to those external standards that are supposed to constitute justice and spirituality according to society and the Church. In "401", she makes fun of "These Gentlewomen" (2) who appear as "Soft - Cherubic Creatures" (1). But beneath the exterior and exaggerated facade of perfection, they are in reality nothing more than a “so refined horror” (6). They are superficial, without deeply held beliefs, and have the imperfections of “freckled human nature” (7) like everyone else. The poem “324” is also a playful attack on the religious, and has an uplifting tone: she observes the Sabbath in her own way. She is not bound by the walls of the church or by time, and especially not by the expectations of the established Church of her day. It is important to recognize and distinguish Dickinson's rebellion against these types of societal and religious expectations and her questions and doubts about God himself. Dickinson was also influenced by great transcendentalist poets such as Emerson, butshe never fully embraced transcendentalist philosophies. The Romantic emphasis on the self and intuition and on nature as a spiritual emblem is evident in her poetry, but she does not share the transcendentalists' strong faith in the power of nature to reveal God or truth spiritual. It focuses much more on the hidden, paradoxical nature of God and the seemingly inexplicable suffering and death in the natural world. Between the literature's eras of romanticism and realism, she spoke "with a new voice that combined enduring elements of both eras, the old and the new" (Perkins 872). All of these factors and more undoubtedly influenced Dickinson's decision to turn inward, toward retreating from the limitations and uncertainties of the outside world into the realm of infinite possibilities offered by her mind. “I live in possibility” (657, 1), she says in a poem celebrating her freedom as a poet. She is not limited - the “Hands” of her “craft” tend “To gather Paradise” (657, 12). Dickinson, “With the will to choose or reject” (508, 18), deliberately chose her path in life and, in turn, rejected another. At Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary, she steadfastly refused to publicly declare her faith in Christ as her Savior. She did not pretend to be unaffected by the pressure and later expressed regret for the missed opportunities, indicating that she actually felt a strong inner inclination to become a Christian (Habbegar 202). The poem “576” is similar to “508,” in that she looks back on a childhood in which religious expressions were forced upon her. In "508", she extols the baptism of her choice, considering her first as trivial as her dolls and her "spool pricks". The poem “576” has a very different attitude towards his childish prayers. This poem, as well as the general tenor of his entire life and works, demonstrates a constant desire to overcome doubt and to believe: And often since then I have considered in danger the strength it would be to have such a strong God that this one to hold my life for me. (576, 14-17) As she entered adulthood, her simple child's world became complex, filled with constant doubts and struggles to understand "parts of her distant plan/that baffled me" (576, 10-11). The strict religious environment in which Dickinson grew up probably left little room for doubt and probably required total acceptance of church dogma. Perhaps she thought that complete trust would be desirable and would provide great security. However, her doubts do not allow this confidence: “What would prayer feel like – for me – / If I believed” (576, 4-5), she wonders. She eventually came to believe that "her critical conscience had excluded her from the innocence of childhood and had somehow made the assurances of Christian belief inaccessible in conventional form" (Monday 47). She longed for a simple faith that would sustain her with joy and hope, but the inability of her critical mind to understand her suffering, as well as a stubborn refusal to trade her independence for identification with the community of believers, made such faith impossible. the most threatening stumbling block to her faith was what she perceived as the distance and silence of God. One of his poems begins: I know he exists, somewhere - in the silence - he has hidden his rare life from our crude eyes. (338, 1-4) That God seems hidden or silent is not Dickinson's most troubling accusation. The poem “724” is a rather shocking indictment of God’s use of His power and authority. Overall, the poemquestions God's design for his creation and for man's suffering. Does he even have a plan, or is he playing some kind of game? Are his actions just towards man? Did He simply create the world to show His authority and power? God seems to act spontaneously, almost randomly, in this poem - "inserting here - a sun - / there - leaving out a man -" (11-12). It is easy for him to invent a life, but just as easy to “erase” it (5). Death seems to be a miracle solution to this spontaneous creation of life: It is easy to erase it - The thrifty Divinity could hardly afford eternity For spontaneity - (5-8) To imply that the responsibility for death ultimately rests on God reveals his questioning of the doctrine of man's depravity. Although we may “murmur” against it, his “Undisturbed Plan” (10) continues. Dickinson is convinced that "this world is not a conclusion" (501, 1), that the ultimate truth lies beyond the visible and temporal world. It is “Invisible, like Music – / But positive, like Sound –” (501, 3-4). However, what exactly this truth is remains largely a mystery to her, and so "its thematic sense of religion lies not in its assurance, but in its continued questioning of God, in its attempt to define his nature and that of his world.” (Magill 805). This mystery “attracts and confuses” (501, 5), but escapes the understanding of philosophy and the sagacity of men. The crucifixion of Christ showed us this, but faith is still not satisfied and blushes to see itself seeking “a bit of evidence” (501, 15). Even the “narcotics” (501, 19) of religion cannot satisfy the aspirations of the soul. Dickinson identifies with the human desire for visible evidence, for clear answers to questions about God and His plan for humanity. This poem contains evidence that she ultimately found the revelation of the natural world (commonly considered the general revelation of God) limited. But more importantly, it reveals his dissatisfaction with the special revelation of God, the person of Jesus Christ. That crucifixion is included in a list of unsatisfactory and disappointing avenues to truth is an idea echoed in another poem: One another's embarrassment and God is revelation. limit (662, 1-3) God's revelations to man have limits; therefore those who have chosen faith must blush and be ashamed of their fellow believers and of God. Dickinson's attempts to seek God also seem to encounter limitations. Prayer is often a source of frustration in his poems: “Of course – I prayed – / And did God care? (376, 1-2). She also writes in her letters of her frustration with prayer: "I seek and I cannot find, I knock and it will not be opened" (Johnson 107), and "We pray to him and he answers 'No.' Then we ask him to cancel the 'no' and he still doesn't answer at all: 'Seek and you will find' is the blessing of faith" (Johnson 290). Dickinson truly believed she was a seeker, but echoes of frustration in her poetry (and letters) indicate that she had not found what faith had promised. Dickinson explores the relationship between the Father and Son in the poem "357" using a metaphor from the legendary court of Miles Standish. God, at home in his distant sky, sends his Son to “woo” humanity. It is as if God fears that, like Priscilla, humanity will “choose the Messenger – and reject the Bridegroom –” by not realizing that they are one. Dickinson certainly seems to be grappling with complex questions about the origin and identity of Jesus. Could she believe that Jesus really came from God? Is Jesus really the answer to all?his questions about the Father? Although a difficult concept, Scripture makes it clear that Christ's mission was to reveal the great love of the Father. God is love, and Christ was his ultimate manifestation of that love toward humanity: “This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his only Son into the world that we might live through him” ( I John 4.9). Dickinson surely had no problem understanding this from the Bible, but something in her own experience kept her from believing it without hesitation. Somehow his identification with the suffering Christ was not enough to dispel his doubts about his Father. Thus, in his poetry, the Father remains "an unresponsive God, an unrevealed God who cannot be approached with confidence by Nature or by doctrine" (Wilbur 130) - or, as I would add, by the life and revelation of Christ. .The suffering that drew him to Jesus was generally caused by death. Although she lived a reclusive life from around the age of thirty, she maintained a very active correspondence with many friends. In a letter, she responds to the death of a friend's daughter: "I can no longer stay in a world of death" (Johnson 145). She even notices the cruelty of death in nature: Frost decapitates the flower at his game - In accidental power - The blond Assassin moves on - (1624, 3-5) As the critic, Alfred Kazin, writes: “She never recovered from the impermanence of everything she saw, from the fragility of human relationships, from the passing of the seasons, from the taste of death in winter” (143). This problem of death, especially the deaths of her close friends and family members, haunted Dickinson, so she turned from a silent, distant father to a suffering human companion, her Son. In the poem “698”, Christ bridges the distance between God and humanity. Although for man the uncertainties of death remain, the death of Christ justifies him: Death - We do not know - Christ's knowledge with Him Justify it - however - (2-4) Christ did not not only experienced death, but every aspect of earthly life:All the other distances he traveled first - No new kilometer remains - Until heaven - (9-12) "I love a look of agony / Because I know it's true - " (241, 1-2), she writes in another poem. While many people pretend to be optimistic, Dickinson rejects the romantic view and instead chooses to see death for what it really is: a harsh reality that robs life of meaning without explanation. The life of Jesus was therefore a great attraction for her; abandoning heaven to experience undeserved suffering and death made him true, authentic and trustworthy: poems about Jesus, he is the solution to the distance between God and humanity. Another poem describing Christ's incarnation highlights his divinity and dignity: although the weak faith of humans may cause the "Bridge" to "stagger" or appear "brittle," God "sent his Son to test the plank/ And he declared it firm. » (1433, 7-8). The fact that Jesus came and was sent by God reveals his divinity and love, and this provides a solid foundation for faith. Yet Dickinson's faith in Christ still seems to waver. She questions Jesus in “217,” but not in the same way she questions God. Her questions toward God often have an accusatory tone, but in this poem she seems shy and childish, hoping that Jesus can help her, but fearing that He cannot. Will he remember her and will his heart be too heavy for him? Jesus is his companion in suffering, but what can he do in the face of his suffering? Sometimes he too seems inaccessible, or perhaps unable to reach her. In another poem, sheprays, “strike - everywhere -” (502, 4), but she still cannot find him. His hand is in creation, but “Have you no arm for Me (502, 8)?” she asks. These poems demonstrate a childlike shyness and fear, in contrast to the bold independence she asserts in other poems. Perhaps his most disconcerting fear was that Christ would offer him no comfort in death. As she imagines “Die! Die in the night” (158, 1)! she asks frantically. And “Jesus”! Where did Jesus go? They said Jesus - always came - Maybe he doesn't know the House - She wrote the following to her friend Abiah Root: "when the trial grows more and more... whose hand is it to help us and direct us, and guide us forever, they speak of a 'Jesus of Nazareth', will you tell me if it is him" (Johnson 39)? She believes in the divinity of Christ, but as Lundin notes: "When theology turns into anthropology, Jesus becomes simply a pioneer in the endless process of enduring pain... [He becomes] trapped with us in our finitude" ( 5). Dickinson's poetry dwells heavily on the suffering Christ, but pays very little attention to the resurrected Savior Christ. Her triumph in resurrection does not seem important in her poetry, perhaps because she could not identify with that part of her experience as she could with her suffering. Moments of doubt are not uncommon, even in the life of a believer, but Dickinson never seemed to rise above the anguish of her suffering. She longed for the joy she saw in others when they accepted Christ as their Savior, but never seemed to experience it herself. The presence of Christ in a person's life brings a radically new perspective on suffering that Dickinson does not seem to take into account. we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. (5:3-5) God transforms the result of evil - suffering - into a way of working "for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). In Dickinson's poetry, suffering only seems to frustrate her desire to know and understand God's love, and any comfort she has lies in her shared sufferings with Christ instead of in his healing power and promise. of new life through his resurrection. But it would be unfair to ignore the poems that seem to contradict him. As one critic puts it: “In Dickinson's poetry, God himself is paradoxical: he is both attached and detached, near and far, compassionate and indifferent, generous and jealous” (167). If this is true, then Dickinson herself is paradoxical, stubbornly clinging to faith and hope while expressing rebellion and fear. While the dominant tone in the overtly religious poems seems to be one of doubt, she sometimes demonstrates a simple but sure faith: "Christ will explain each separate anguish / In the fair school of heaven" (193, 3-4) . , she writes with hope. His ride with Death in “Because I Could Not Stop to Die” includes Immortality as a companion, and their final destination is “Eternity” (24). Another poem uses a simple illustration from nature to demonstrate trust in God and the afterlife. As she knows what the moor and the sea look like without having seen them, she says: I have never spoken with God Nor visited Heaven - And yet I am sure of the place As if the checks were given - (1052, 4-8), 1982.