Emily Dickenson

Born in a small town of Amherst, MA. She was largely misunderstood and rejected, even
ridiculed during her lifetime. She had lrelatively little formal education and attended the
Amherst academy (some sort of secondary school). The things that interested her most were
reading and writing. She was of a very fragile health, suffered of weakness; was also deemed
as an eccentric person, a mad and insane woman. Towards the end of her life she stopped
appearing in public and some say she had Agoraphobia social phobia. She started to avoid
human company more and more in her latter life. On rare occasions when visitors would dare
to come to her house she would recieve them from behind the door. What is also intereseting
that she insisted in wearing a white gown in the public. So she stylized her persona in a way.
She lived in a small hpuse usually called homestead. She did the baking, wrote poems and
attended the garden. She died at the age of 55 and never married. So we won't talk too much
about her biography and will proceede with the poems. (al malo sutra)
Her friend circle was largely dominated by men, to whom she felt lively correspondance and
attachments but not of a romantic character. There is a simplified vision of her, which one of
her friends said that she was the 'virgin recluse'. Readers were shocked by the eroticism and
sexuality from Dickenson's poems. Some publishers rejected her because of that and this strict
Puritan laws and tradition.
Some say she wrote from 800-2000 poems. Major themes: Nature; Puritansim (she lived in a
respectable New England family. Namely, her grandfather was the founder of the Amherst
college, operating till today); the meaning of life was another important theme of hers. She
was delighted by Emerson, his writings and poetry but did not share some of his views of
nature. For here nature is more mysterious; mysterious as death, immortality and life.
When we talk about the meaning of life in the case of Emily Dickenson we usually talk about
the 'lack of the meaning of life'. His view of life was very pessimistic, gloomy and dark.
Eternity is not to be understood in a positive sense; she talks about death in a gloomy way; the
immortality of nothingness is for her the eternal nothingness that death brings with itself.
I taste a liquor never brewed (214)
I taste a liquor never brewed -From Tankards scooped in Pearl -Not all the Vats upon the Rhine
Yield such an Alcohol!
Inebriate of Air -- am I -And Debauchee of Dew -Reeling -- thro endless summer days -From inns of Molten Blue -When "Landlords" turn the drunken Bee
Out of the Foxglove's (naprstak) door --

When Butterflies -- renounce their "drams" -I shall but drink the more!
Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats -And Saints -- to windows run -To see the little Tippler
Leaning against the -- Sun
Kuam pie koje do sada nikada nije napravljeno
Iz krigli ()
Nije
Opijena zrakom sam ja i pijanica rose
Promiem licem kroz beskrajne ljetne dane
Iz krmi plavetnila.
Kada stanodavci tjeraju pijanu pelu sa praga naprska
I kada se leptiri odreknu svojih porcija,
ja cu nastaviti piti jos vise.
Dok serafini ne otjeraju svoje bijele kape
I sveci pozure ka prozorima
Da bi vidjeli malu pijanduru koja se naslanja na sunce.
The only poem which was published by (publisher) among many she sent to them. It it
interesting that none of the poems has a title given by Emily Dickenson. They are known after
the first line in the first stanza. At the first glance it appears that she is talking about
intoxication and alcohol but in fact the thing she is intoxicated with is nature; fragrances you
come across in the nature and she emphasizes different parts of nature. She did not literally
drink alcohol; the intoxication is more connected with the spirituality.
In the 2nd stanza she is intoxicated by the endless summer day, which implies that she is
intoxicated by nature. With each stanza she emphasizes different parts of nature. In the second
stanza she mentiones Air, in the third stanza drunken bee and butterflies.
The intoxication will not stop with the end of the summer, it will still remain. In the 4th stanza
she introduces the seraphs and the saints, which will see the little Trippler, namely her how
she is drunker by the nature.
We have a lot of aliteration with the seraphs and saints; the snowy hats of the Seraphs are
actually the clouds. You have a persistant imagery of drunkeness and intoxication, inabriation
with alcohol although her alcohol is constantly nature. She consistently portrays herself as a
drunkard intoxicated all the time with nature.

Rhine, river in Germany also a region in Germany known for good wine. So the kind of liquor
she is intoxicated with is better from the finest wine in Germany. The pictures of drunkeness
and intoxication are persistent. She makes hints to alcoholic beverage and compares it to
nature. Her INNS are places associated with nature, heaven and sky.
The landlord is actually God, the one who manages all the affairs. She will get even more
intoxicated with nature even when the bees go away from the flowers and when butterflies
have their shre of intoxication. So she is so intoxicated that she is walking to and fro, she is
not stabile metaphorically speaking but she is leaning against the sun (fence). This is one of
the optimistic poems of Dickenson where she describes this feeling of joy, of intoxication
with nature. No pessimistic tones.

Wild nights (249)

Wild Nights Wild Nights!
Were I with thee
Wild Nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile the Winds
To a Heart in port
Done with the Compass
Done with the Chart!
Rowing in Eden
Ah, the Sea!
Might I but moor Tonight
In Thee!
Divlje noi
Divlje noi, divlje noi!
Da sam ja s tobom
Divlje noi bi bile naa rasko!
Uzaludni vjetrovi protiv srca u luci
Kompas i karta mi nisu potrebni
Veslanje u raju, o na moru!
Kada bih se bar veeras mogla usidriti u tebi!

This is a love poem of Emili Dickenson bursting with sexuality and eroticism. Here luxury
means excessive indulgence in some pleasure. This is ofc the sexual pleasure. Back then
however in the dictionary of her own time, luxury had the meaning of lust. Znaci slobodno
mozemo prevesti kao pouda. So she puts this word into the poem deliberately because she
must have been aware of the archaic meaning of it. Srce je smjeteno u luci, znai zatieno i
zaklonjeno na neki nain.
The poetic voice in the first stanza is identified with the author. The adresee is her lover. He is
the imaginary male person because it is not clear if that person ever existed. Her critics have
tried to find ou who he was, but unsuccessfully. Dickenson expresses yearning and desire
(Were I with thee; you have a parallel here If I were with you and later Might I but moor); she
is dreaming of wild nights with that man and to be united with him. Wild nights should be a
luxury, not a reality. She dreams of their night together that would be a pure lust and pleasure.
2nd stanza The strength of the winds is powerless against her heart. The heart is now in the
port, as a ship which is safe in the harbor and winds cannot harm it. her search is over and her
love is constant. She is exactly in the place where she needs to be. We have images of being
posessed and in the same time being liberated that is what lust does to us. We can see that
she is deeply in love with that person and that she has found what she has been looking for.
This gives her safety but also a relief because she doesn't have to search any longer. The
winds symbolize changes, hardships, troubles, also doubts in life that cannot harm her. Her
search is finally over.
3rd stanza She goes back to her dreams, yearnings and desires of the sexual intercourse
when she says that she is plunging into the deep sea. She imagines herself, this has to be taken
metaphorically as rowing in Eden and rowing in the sea, which according to many critics is a
direct reference to sexual intercourse and union with that man. Might I but moor in the
which she cannot, so you have this intertwined images of sexual desire and ().
E.D was an extraordinary literary figure; her literary greatness was recognized much later, in
the 20th century when she was celebrated as the greatest American poet of the 19th c. together
with Walt Whitman.
The form: uses iambic trimeter and tetrameter; the rhyming scheme is abbb, also slant rhyme
(assonance and consonance). She uses quotrains, dashes that (anticipating modernism), empty
spaces within the poem, capitalization to emphasize certain terms and notions.
I'm nobody. Who are you? (288)
I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of usdon't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!
Ja sam niko, a ko si ti?
Jesi li i ti niko?
Onda smo u paru, ali nemoj im rei
Jer e oni to obznati.
Kako je uasno biti neko,
Takpo javno poput abe
Reci svoje ime do beskonanosti/neprestano
Masi koja se divi.
So there is a reason why june. It is connected with the frog. She didn't do it accidently.
Form: 2 quotrains, dashes to achieve emphasis (nobody, too), capitalization Nobody, Frog,
Somebody; slant rhyme with coublets in the 1st stanza. In the secons stanze you have end
rhyme (frog/bog)
She provides aus with her own thoughts on the life of a poet, a woman. She herself did not
want to publish her own books. Poetic persona here is aloof; she seems to elevate herself
because she is nobody. Being somebody for her means being a frog and that is something bad.
If you are nobody, you are special like her. The adresee may be another woman, family
member, she might adress us (forge a bond between her and us). She is conspiracing with the
adressee against the resat of the world.
2nd stanza Who is the target of her sarcasm? People who love attention; public life; public
figures; the ones who enjoy the fame. Her view of this people is ironic, almost sarcastic
because they are constantly reminding the public on their existence and require from people to
remember their names. For her this is snobbery and such people are social snobs.
Why the frog? It is a higly unusual image, which she uses to ridicule somebody. The public
people behave just like the frogs in June crooking day and night long. Admiring bog are
poeple who expect admiration in public for their own self appreciation. The ones who admire
them are valueless.
Universal theme here is one of the solitary figure against the rest of the world. She is going
against the flow
I know some lonely Houses off the Road (289)
I know some lonely Houses off the Road
A Robber'd like the look of
Wooden barred,

And Windows hanging low,

Inviting to
A Portico,
Where two could creep
One hand the Tools
The other peep
To make sure All's Asleep
Old fashioned eyes
Not easy to surprise!
How orderly the Kitchen'd look, by night,
With just a Clock
But they could gag the Tick
And Mice won't bark
And so the Walls don't tell
None will
A pair of Spectacles ajar just stir
An Almanac's aware
Was it the Mat winked,
Or a Nervous Star?
The Moon slides down the stair,
To see who's there!
There's plunder where
Tankard, or Spoon
Earring or Stone
A Watch Some Ancient Brooch
To match the Grandmama
Staid sleeping there
Day rattles too
Stealth's slow
The Sun has got as far
As the third Sycamore
Screams Chanticleer
"Who's there"?
And Echoes Trains away,
Sneer "Where"!
While the old Couple, just astir,
Fancy the Sunrise left the door ajar!
Poznajem neke usamljene kue niz cestu

iji izgled vole razbojnici

Sa crvenim reetkama I prozorima koji su smjesteni nisko
Gdje su se dvojica provalnika mogla uuljati
Jedan od njih rukuje sa alatom a drugi uva strau
Da bi se uvjerio das u svi zaspali
Starinske oi koje nije lahko iznenaditi.
Kako je uredno izgledala kuhinja
Tamo je bio sat
iji otkucaj bi oni mogli priguiti
Ni mievi nee lajati
U ono to zidovi ne kau nece niko
Par otovrenih naoala, kao I knjiga su stajale na stolu
Je li to prostirka upravo namignula
Ili je to bila nervozna zvijezda
Mjesec silazi niz stepenice
Da vidi ko je tamo
Ima se stat u pronaci
Da li je to vrc ili je kasika
Ili nausnica ili kamenic
Sat, ili neki stari bro koji odgovara baki koja spava gore u sobi.
Dan se polahko primie
Sunce je vec doslo do drveca (do sikamore)
Pijevas vie: ko je tamo?
A odjeci vozova odjekuju
Gdje?
Dok se stari par divi suncu,
Vrata su ostala otvorena.

We now turn to prosaic and realistic themes. The theme is one of the robbery of an old couple
and showing solitary houses not within the towns or villages. They are good target for the
robbers. It is actually a common theme an old couple as a perfect target for the robbers.
Description of the house and the burglary: the lower the windows hang it would be easier to
enter the house. But elderly people are quite experienced, always on alert and cannot be easily
surprised. The image of the glasses is actually connected with what the old couple left in room
before they went to sleep. The robbers pay attention to every single detail. They are excited
and not quite indifferent. Trebaju takoer zaustavito klatno na satu da prestane kucati, da ne
uznemirava ljude I da bolje spavaju. Almanac was a very interesting book in the 18 th century
and it covered various themes.
the image of mat winked to them, and the moon slides downstairs just denotes that they are
on alert and every small sound scares them. They are in the house and anybody might wake
up. So paying attention to every single detail. They are frightened and want to do their job
very fast.
What is sycamore? It is lets say a typical American tree. Whose perspective is this? Poetic
voice of the elderly people waking up and looking through the window. And the Chanticleer is
a refined word for the rooster.
585
I like to see it lap the Miles
And lick the Valleys up
And stop to feed itself at Tanks
And then prodigious step
Around a Pile of Mountains
And supercilious peer
In Shanties by the sides of Roads
And then a Quarry pare
To fit its Ribs
And crawl between
Complaining all the while
In horrid hooting stanza
Then chase itself down Hill
And neigh like Boanerges
Then punctual as a Star
Stop docile and omnipotent
At its own stable door
Volim da gledam kako grabi milje

I klize kroz doline

I zastajem da se hranim na izvorima
A onda velianstveno koraam ka gomilama planina
Oholo pored straara i nadmeno gledam te straare pored ceste
I onda proe tik pored kamenoloma i
Uklopi se u njegova rebra
alei se sve vrijeme u svojoj uzasnoj, huktaloj strofi
A onda bi potjerao sam sebe i zarezao poput (Boanergesa)
A onda bi taan kao zvijezda
Stao-nemoan na vratima vlastite staje.
In this poem she celebrates the existence of train, whoch was the technologica miracle of that
time and describes its working mechanism, how it passas through villages and villages and
has the pivilege to see everything. So there is no pessimism and no gloom in this poem.
712
Because I could not stop for Death
He kindly stopped for me
The Carriage held but just Ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly droveHe knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility
We passed the School, where Children strove
At recessin the ring
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain
We passed the Setting Sun
Or ratherHe passed Us
The Dews drew quivering and chill
For only Gossamer, my Gown
My Tippetonly Tulle

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground
The Roof was scarcely visible
The Cornicein the Ground
Since then'tis centuries and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity
This is a very successful poem, very gloomy and ambigous. She uses brilliant metaphores to
describe death.
Zasto se nisam mogla zaustaviti za smrt
Pa je zbog toga ona ljubazno stala za mene
U kociji smo bili smao mi i besmrtnost
Ostavila sam po strani i obaveze i rad
Zbog njegove utivosti i ljubaznosti.
Proli smo pokraj skole gdje su se djeca igrala na odmoru, u krugu
Prosli smo pored polja iljeeg ita
Ili smo mi prosli pored sunca ili je ono proslo pored nas.
Rosa je postala treperava i hladna
A moja haljina je bila od tanke tkanine, a palerina od tila
Stali smo pored kuce koja se cinila kao oteklina u tlu
Krov se jedva mogao vidjeti
Sa tla samo brezuljak.
Od tada se stoljea ine kraa od dana / Ne ini se da je prolo vise od dana
Kad sam primijetila da su glave od konja uprte ka beskonacnosti.
Form : the 1st and the 3rd line in every stanza are iambic tetrameter. 2nd and 4th iambic
trimeter. Repetition is common; capitalization: mostly nouns, ourselves.

Image of human life and our vision of death. We would not stop for death because it would
come to us. The meeting of death - death is a male suitor, almost a cavalir. It waits for you and
when you reach its door, he says: Lady may you come in. The poetic voice is a female
imagining the death as the male character. The death kindlx stopped to me with a carriage.
She presents us a soothing image of death there is nothing horrid about it (similar to
Whitman-ovo sam skontala ja hahahahah-feeling blessed). She descibes death in her own
unique way.
Then we have a description of transition from one part of daily life to aother. It is also a
transition from one world to another. She is dead and now watches all that one last time. In
the beginning it seems like fun but towards the end it is more sombre and darker.
It is a semi-gloomy picture. The person is already taken by death and has now the last look on
what she had in this life.
The grave of the poetic persona is descibed, not in whitman's style as the uncut hair of grass
but rather a swelling in the ground.