Poem Analysis
Emily Dickinson was an American lyric poet, who still nowadays is considered one of the two leading 19th-century American poets. Therefore, in this post we will be analyzing one of her most famous poems, ”This is My Letter to the World”.
This is my Letter to the World,
That never wrote to me, —
The simple news that Nature told,
With tender majesty.
Her message is committed
To hands, I cannot see;
For love of her, sweet countrymen,
Judge tenderly of me!
In order to understand this poem, literary devices will be described to analyze the hidden meaning there was between those short but not simple lines.
The main theme of this poem was loneliness, isolation, and membership. The reference made in the first line talks about the own poetry of the writer. Followed by the second line, which talks about nothing returned from those whom she wrote to. This can also be analyzed in the context of the writer, using a little bit of the psychoanalysis. She was a writer devoted to write, nothing else and nothing more but writing. She spent her life devoted to write, and therefore any relationship with anyone else was cultivated.
The writing she has done came from Nature’s inspiration and belongs now to those she doesn’t even know, and the speaker’s all-consuming passion for writing is what sets her apart from the rest. Consequently, the tone of the poem was related to the hope of the writer to break their sad isolation and end on a hopeful note.
The irony was present in ”this is my letter to the world, that never wrote to me, –”. It is doubtful that the world will respond, despite the irony, the speaker still speaks as nature does. Dickinson alludes to the transcendentalist philosophy which often inspired her. For this poem, nature becomes divine and personable. And one of the most used techniques by the author was also included in this poem, which is the personification. Presented in ”with tender majesty”, referring to the projection of human characteristics onto inanimate objects in order to create imagery.
Citations
MLA Altman, Toby. “This is my letter to the world.” LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 23 Jan
2019. Web. 22 Apr 2020.
