Emily Dickinson: Selected Poems - Summary

The Heart Asks Pleasure First

This poem by Emily Dickinson marks the Death as a savior to all sorts agonies of life. Dickinson’s style of using dashes recurs in the poem.

The heart or the emotional side of the narrator asks first for pleasure. If its need is not catered, it wants to be excused from the infliction of pain. Then the sufferings from the pain try to be suppressed with the help of anodynes and painkillers.

The painkillers fail to do its job of relieving. It is felt by the narrator to fall asleep to pass the egregious state. Sleep too is unable to soothe her. Now, her final request to the “Inquisitor” i.e. God to confer the “privilege to die” peacefully as the last resort.

I Never  Saw A Moor

The poet confesses that she has never seen a moor but she is well aware of how heather, a shrub grown on the moor, looks like in real. She is also acquainted with the roar of sea tides without actually experienced the sea in first person.

She clarifies that she has never spoken to the Almighty or visited Him in Heaven, but she is certain of its existence and whereabouts as if the map directing towards it were already given. In other words, the last few lines signify her unshakeable belief in God and the doctrine of life after death and salvation.

Emily Dickinson’s characteristic style of Free verse is recurred in this poem.

Much Madness Is Divinest Sense

In this poem, Emily Dickinson hails those minority whose opinions are different from the majority view. In fact, she goes on to say that those who flaunt pure madness have “divinest sense” but only in the eyes of astute observers. On the other hand, where there appears “much sense”, madness and folly underlie the surface.

But, it is to be noted that it’s the majority that prevails after the conflict. If one conforms to the popular view and he/she is declared normal, but if one opposes it, he/she is to be frowned upon and people will raise their eyebrows. What happens next is that the rebel will be branded rogue and transported to a mental asylum.

This Is My Letter To The World

In this poem, the poet addresses the world who, she claims, has never written to her. Her allegiance to Nature and its entities is resilient and it is Nature itself which guides her towards wisdom and in understanding life, she is just telling those revelations in her poetry.

According to her, Nature’s message is committed to hands she cannot see i.e. of God. In the end, she urges her countrymen to judge her softly due to her ardent love for nature.

Nature is personified in the poem, with hints of pantheism advocated by Emily Dickinson. Through this poem, it can be implied that Emily wanted to publish it as her message and she hoped for lenient treatment from the public of her poetry. But, in her wildest dreams, she would not have hoped for such success which she currently holds in American literature.

A Bird Came Down The Walk

The narrator observes a bird walking on the ground without noticing the presence of her. The bird finds prey in an angle-worm and clutches it and cut it into half and devours it. Followed by it, it drinks a dew accumulated on the grass. The imagery of the bird eating the worm raw shows the humankind tendency in an animal. After satisfying its appetite, it jumps to the side of the wall and let a beetle pass as the bird is already full.

Suddenly, the bird acts cautious and its eyes opened wide and looks for anything unusual, in the poet’s words, it resembles “frightened beads”. It moves its soft velvet head to sense if anything seems troubling.

The narrator tries to calm the bird by offering a crumb of bread. It begins to take flight after taking cognizance of the human element. It unfurls its feathers and flies towards its home with a poise. The bird’s flight is compared to oars used for rowing a barge and butterflies flying across the bank of a river quietly. It appears as the bird is swimming without splashing.

A Narrow Fellow In The Grass

The narrator speaks of a snake slithering in the grass. Its movement reminds the narrator of the working of a comb on the hair. Its presence is all of a sudden as it camouflages in the grass.

The snake has a liking for the wet floor as evident from the natural tendency of cold-blooded reptiles. The narrator, a boy who walks barefoot past the snake, he mistakes it as a whip. When he tries to pick it up, it begins to move and disappear in an instant.

This incident leads the boy to brood. He is aware of various kinds of wild animals and holds friendly thoughts about them. But when it comes to snakes, he is afraid of it whether alone or not. He almost loses his breath when he sees one.