Over the years, death has remained a rather unattractive theme in poetry and yet, this is not the case for Emily Dickinson and Percy Bysshe Shelley, who show an obsession with life’s end in their poetic works. Their perception on the subject of death is unique in the way they address it. Additionally, their poems on the death stem from their very own life experiences that are in one or another related to death. Though many lovers of poems and particularly the readers would like to engage in poetry that attract and appeal to pleasant emotional senses, the subject of death is dreaded for the pain, mystery and general fear that is associated with it. This paper considers the works of these two poets that pertain to the end of life and examines how they relate to the views of modern society on this same subject.
The specific question that frames this study is, to what extent does the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Percy Shelley on the end of life reflect the societal views of death? The essay herein seeks to establish as argument to corroborate that the views of death in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Percy Shelley differ dramatically from the societal views and that these distinctions derive from their approach to poetry, which was based on their personal day-to-day experiences. While Dickinson and Shelley wrote much about life’s end, as did other poets, the views of these two writers are starkly different from what many other poets hold about it, which will become clear after a close examination of their poetic verse. The dynamic perspectives brought out in their works will even suggest how we might more easily, perhaps comfortably, approach the end of life as people who seem to be averse to it. Since the distinctive views of Dickinson and Shelley stem from personal experience, this section begins by looking into the personal lives of both poets.
Family and Life
Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts (Biography (a) 1), where she lived most her life in isolation, hidden away from society. She never married, and she spent her life as a private poet. Over the years, Emily wrote letters to her friends, in which she most commonly addressed the themes of mortality and death. It is imperative to note that Dickinson developed her desire for such uncommon topics during the periods when she had to nurse her mother, who later passed away leaving her to live the solitary lifestyle that she is so infamous for (Trivedi and Tandon 86). After the demise of her mother, Emily was reported to have left the confines of her home.
It was not until this period that she started writing down her poems, which she surprisingly never wanted to publish. The reason for this desire was that publishers who failed to take note of her writing techniques altered her poems significantly and thereby eradicated her poems of their intended meaning. According to Jakobi (3), almost all of her poems were published only after her death. Apart from her sick and dying mother, the other factor that prompted her obsession with death was the fact that her immediate environment was filled with a very high mortality rate, one largely inconceivable in the modern day. Since Dickinson alienated herself from the public, it can be argued that her poems are a reflection of her thoughts without the influence from other quarters (Dickinson 1). Most importantly, Dickinson became an introvert and lost the hopes for any achievements beyond the grave.
In contrast to Dickinson, Percy Shelley was a renowned American poet of his time (1792-1822). His poetry began when he joined Eton College, the prestigious boys’ school for secondary education in Windsor, England (Biography (b) 1). While in college, Percy was bullied, and this caused him mental and physical stress, which precipitated his decision to publish two novels and two volumes of poetry. In addition to this, Percy was expelled from Oxford University for authoring a pamphlet entitled The Necessity of Atheism. His parents’ efforts to plead with him to change from his divergent opinions about life fell on deaf ears, and he later compounded such rebellion by eloping with Harriet Westbrook (Biography (a) 1). Over the course of time, Shelley married his first wife, who later committed suicide. Like Dickinson, publishers declined to release most of his pieces, but instead of grounding their decision in the technical peculiarities of the poetry, they wanted to avoid criminal charges over publishing blasphemous poems.
Death and Dying According to Dickinson and Shelley
The two poets Shelley and Dickinson have a different and a unique perspective of death in their poems depicting death as part and parcel of human experiences.Both Dickinson and Shelley present death as an ordinary event that should not worry the living, which, it will be shown, has much to do with their own personal lives. They use a variety of themes, such as love, marriage, nature, and the eternal realms, to bring about their points of death and these will be looked at in the following sections of this work.
The pain that comes along with death stems from the fact that it snatches away the love that exists among loved once and so the agony that comes along by replacing love with pain. Love refers to a strong affection that exists between individuals who share common interests (Brown and Yule 34). When people love each other, they dread anything that will cause their separation. If the division is planned and understandable, then the parties can bear it, at least most of the time. Death, however, is a cruel enemy that intrudes when least expected, taking away loved ones and being especially painful because it causes a permanent separation (Biography (a) 1). The two authors establish a connection between caring affiliation and death in their various poems, which are worth exploring as the relationship tells us something of what death meant for them.
Dickinson draws a relationship between love and death, and according to her, one is the consequence of the other. She depicts life’s end as a slightly negative menace, which at the same time can produce care for other people. According to her, once a beloved one dies, the lover of that person might grow in their affection, having a deep connection even after the moment of death. She clearly shows that love is not only a feeling held when one is alive, but also a feeling that continues even after demise (Brown and Yule 43). Emily zeroed in on the issue of love after death, that moment when many people lose the love they had for an individual. In her poem entitled, “The Bustle in a House,” she describes how people who lose someone they care about, are usually left dejected after the loss. In the second stanza of the poem, the speaking voice says, ‘The Sweeping up the Heart And putting Love away We shall not want to use again Until Eternity’( Dickinson 1). However, Emily also writes about life after death where those, who are beloved, will still be able to express their affection towards the individual they no longer have. She indicates that the end of life is a necessary evil (Bloom 207) and seems to be saying that unless people lose their loved ones, they will never experience love at eternity.
Shelley is known to be a significant romantic poet and, unsurprisingly, does not fail to talk about the subject of love amidst his poems on death. The writer uses poems about death to address the issue of romantic affection. This may imply that he does not take the cessation of life so seriously or to such an extent that he cannot express views on love while also addressing the darker topic (Bloom 129). When Fanny Godwin, sister of Shelley’s second wife Mary, commits suicide, he writes the poem entitled “On Fanny Godwin” to articulate his emotions, the speaking voices says ‘Her voice did quiver as we parted, Yet knew I not that heart was broken From which it came, and I departed Heeding not the words then spoken.’While she lived, Fanny was in love with Shelley and did not find time to convey her feelings to him. According to the poem, she found the opportunity to express the affection at the point of her death, which demonstrates that for Shelley there is still the chance of making her tenderness known even at the moment of the end and after it.
In “The Cold Earth Slept Below,” Shelley talks romantically about nature. However, this poem talks about death as well, having written the poem after losing a loved one. Being a romantic poet, he still manages to express romance in a few lines of the poem (Bloom 130), especially in the line that talks about how the eyes glow in the glare. In yet another piece, he depicts death as vanity. The “Death” poem puts it plainly that ‘death is just but a bridge that people traverse in order to reach other levels of experience.’ According to him, we should never weep at the loss of loved ones but instead should have hope that they will meet one day again.
Besides, the poets believe that death is not all negative because it is a transition from the world of living to the dead. According to them, the deceased is even more peaceful than the living (Brown and Yule 78). In his piece entitled, “Adonais,” Shelley brings about this theme vividly. He moans the death of a friend, John Keats, and calls upon other poets to bemoan his sudden demise. Although the mood is somber right at the beginning of the poem, this is short-lived because the attitude turns dramatically into that of optimism. It would be understandable if one thought of Shelley as insane since he rejoices at the death of a friend (Bloom 132). Indeed, he is happy because Keats is dead and cannot be attacked by critics any longer. His friend has become a portion of the eternal life, and thus awaits the second life afterward. Therefore, in Shelley’s view, post-life is an even better state because one is relieved of certain daunting challenges that those left behind have to face. The contrasts with the poet’s contemporary society again come to the fore: society does not view death as a transition state, they see it as the robber of life. This is because when one dies, he or she does not come back to life, though it depends upon one’s belief. Some believe that there will be life after death, while others do not believe in eternity. For instance, Christians are convinced that when one dies, he or she will only rise after the rapture. However, most societies do not talk about this issue, including the writing of the will, because it is viewed as a way of wishing one to die faster perhaps with the motivation of inheriting an estate.
A further commonality between Dickinson and Shelley arises in the fact that the two poets write about the issue of death intrepidly. They do not fear to inscribe death in a stark manner. Dickinson addresses the painful truth of death without fear as other poets do (Bloom 208). In her poem, “I Felt a Funeral in my Brain,” she presides over her own funeral ceremony. Emily attributes the traits of being conscious to the dead. The approach that she uses in this poem occurs elsewhere in her work and makes her writings quite interesting, as she utilizes the first-person point of view in most of her poems ‘ And then I heard them lift a Box ,And creak across my Soul, With those same Boots of Lead, again ,Then Space - began to toll.’ (Dickinson 1). The move is quite daring of her because it was not usual for poets to write about death, especially from the first-person viewpoint during her day. The fact that she can dream about her death and write about it goes against the beliefs of the rational being and society may have a negative perception about a person who contemplates her end or uses an analogy to talk about his or her demise.
Moreover, in her other poem, “Behind Me – dips Eternity,” she brings forth the state of the dead as a normal condition and the state of being alive as the abnormal one. According to this juxtaposition, it could be interpreted that her readers should embrace the state of being dead instead of being alive (Trivedi and Tandon 94). The society, in contrast, views life’s end not as a topic of study, but a state that one only talks about during the burial ceremony. The other poem in which she addresses life as the extraordinary state is “My life has stood – a Loaded Gun.” She depicts four things: the states of life and death coexist; we cannot have one state without the other; in order to have life, there must be an end to life; and death is an inevitable condition. Dickinson moves further away from the standard thinking and expectations of society on death by writing about the topic with herself as the main character. In many societies or at least societal subgroups, the topic of death is not discussed at all. Therefore, Dickinson goes against social norms when she talks passionately about death. As a matter of fact, in some communities, elders would have even organized a ritual to ward off the evil spirit that they thought resided within her and caused her to talk about dying in this way.
Percy Shelley talks about the end of life and urges the living not to fear it. In his poem, “On Death,” he compares life with a flickering light of a meteor the speaking voice says, ‘ The pale, the cold, and the moony smile Which the meteor beam of a starless night, Sheds on a lonely and sea-girt isle’ (Bloom 135). This poem brings out life, the opposite of death, as a very short span of time, likening it to a meteor that passes by in a matter of seconds. His advice to the audience is to make maximum use of time as life is not guaranteed. Human beings are not sure of when they will die. To this end, individuals should live each day to the fullest. If that is done, there will be less to worry about when one dies because he or she shall have achieved his or her goals in life and will be entitled to the rest. In contrast to death comes the concept of never dying, which is immortality.
Immortality is the state of not dying completely. In their poems, the duo has exhibited the immortality of the soul at death. To them, only the body dies by decaying and is buried, but the soul is ever alive, representing the individual (Dietrich 4). This leads to the belief in an afterlife, which is a dominant theme in these poems. In her piece, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes,” Dickinson talks about the effects of those who die upon the living. It leads to sorrow amongst the living because they have lost someone thus causing mental torture (Dickinson 1). This torture may persist for extended periods, and yet she talks of the life that will be experienced by the dead after it all. Thus, according to this poem, we should not weep so much when someone dies. Death is not a pleasant experience for any person. People cry and moan for a long time when they lose one of their own. However, in the eyes of these poets, people do not die completely, because their soul continues to live. Except for Christians, society has a different view. Most people know that when a person dies, he or she has gone for good, as no one can see or feel the soul of another person; we can only see the body.
In work “Epipsychidion,” Shelley talks about the immortality of the human soul. The title of the poem is a Greek word, which can be broken down into the following parts: “Epi” denotes “around” while “psychidion” means “a little soul.” So, in full, this title can be translated into English to mean “concerning a little soul.” In another poem, “To William Shelley,” he recounts the memories of his lost son, but to him as a father all is not lost. He still believes that he will be able to see his son William once again. The poem indicates that only William’s robes are decaying and that he is not dead, that the spirit continues to live. This continuation of life prompts the issue of how people die.
It has been rightly argued that death is presented as an action similar to aging and decay (Ruston 27). Dickinson describes the process and its gradually unfolding nature, during and after the event of life’s cessation. This theme is vividly brought out by the poem, “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died.” She begins the narration from the deathbed when a fly comes in and interferes with the prevalent silence (Dickinson 1). Emily then describes the people who are present at the time that she is dying and how they are preparing for the death to occur. She is also getting ready to donate her possessions to those who will be left behind after she dies. Thus, Dickinson is trying to say that the end should not confront people unawares, as they should be ready to receive it at any moment. It can be understood in the sense that living people should set and achieve goals while they live because without goals, life is lived in vain (Nesteruk 35). However, this insight may be untrue since some people die from accidents, heart attacks or unforeseen circumstances. Society does not see death as processes and events; instead, they consider it cruel. Along with these contradictions in thought comes a contrast in the method, as poetry offers a distinct format for exploring specific subjects.
The two poets have extensively used figures of speech to bring home their points in quite an effective manner, employing these techniques in their poems that talk about death (Swarnakar 38). They contribute to the subject in some cases with language that requires the audience to read beyond the lines. This is the real beauty of poetry. It is imperative to note that both poets had a strong attachment to their loved ones, and thus that their emotions and feelings were profoundly affected when they died. However, in the contemporary society, people’s emotions about the dead are released through crying, honoring the dead with what they wanted to be done, or holding ceremonies in their remembrance.
In the poem, “In the Garden,” she uses symbolism as a concept to represent the idea of death.
Dickinson beautifully uses a bird to talk about death. She watches the bird feed on a worm and drinks water from the dew of the grass. However, when she tries to offer the bird food, it flies away. The third stanza of the poem, the speaking voice asserts ‘And then he drank a dew from a convenient grass, and then hopped sidewise to the wall to let a beetle pass.’ (Bloom 125). The line about giving the bird sustenance and flying away implies that it does not matter how good we are, one day we will have to die. Besides, death is personified as a polite gentleman in the poem, “Because I could not stop for Death” It is ambiguous because the society views the topic as a cruel reality; however, in this poem, it is depicted softly. She describes the event as a courteous gentleman who stops over to lead her to eternity (Engle 73). Death, portrayed as a gentleman, drives the carriage, as he transports the individual to the next world. In this poem, she seems not to fear death and is instead happy that the gentleman is driving the carriage to the grave with care (Engle 75).
The ability to provide an in-depth analysis has worked flawlessly for Shelley, as he talks about his dead wife in “The Cold Earth Slept Below.” He uses the words “the breath of night like death did flow” which refers to the emotions that he went through in the night. He has been left alone and uses a bit of nature to express how he feels at that moment (Shelley 43). Additionally, in Shelley’s, “On a Faded Violet,” the poet likens the odor that arises from the flower to the kisses breathed on him. This statement is used to compare a flower’s odor to the kisses of her departed fiancé. The direct comparison here achieves the effect of perfectly correlating two aspects that seem to be related. This can only be written in a poem. In today’s society, people will prefer to give a shallow explanation about the death of a loved one without breaking it down into its distressing yet real components. Most people believe that it is good to let the dead rest in peace without having to discuss such a person more.
Dickinson strongly believes in the immortality of the soul. She does not worry much even when she loses loved ones because she feels they will meet once again (Nesteruk 40). However, when expressing the immortality of the soul, Shelley, in some instances, feels dejected and forlorn, showing that these two poets, despite their similar interpretations of death, do differ in substantial ways. In “On a faded violet,” Shelley laments over the topic and is not happy that he has lost a loved one. It takes him time to heal from the shock as he feels responsible for the person’s end because of the poor connection that they had in the final days of their relationship. There is a sense of self-pity that he has for himself, and furthermore, he does not even think of life after the death as opposed to Dickinson who holds the belief with fervor.
Conclusion
There are various appealing insights in the works of two fabulous poets who have provided an in-depth discussion about death, namely Emily Dickinson and Percy Shelley. They went against the odds to address this topic in quite an unprecedented way. They identified with the end of life, showing a level of comfort with the topic uncommon to their contemporaries and modern society, owing to their first-hand experiences with the event. Again, the specific question that framed this study was, to what extent does the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Percy Shelley on the end of life reflect the societal views of death? It became clear that the views of this issue in the poetry of Dickinson and Shelley differ dramatically from societal views and that these distinctions derive from their approach to poetry, which was based on their personal day-to-day experiences. Death is a subject that most poets do not write about, and if they do, they only talk about the plain facts, at least as known by most people. Furthermore, society itself disregards or avoids the subject, failing to approach life’s end with any comfort. The poets in this essay not only contradict this perspective but also employ controversial means in doing so.
Dickinson puts herself at the center of most of her death poems. To put it differently, she is the persona. She talks to the audience through herself. This approach is relatively dominant in most of her poems, many of which are all about death, and surprisingly enough her ideologies differ from those of most other poets (Dickinson 1). For Dickinson, death is explored oppositely but still attracts the attention of her readers. The audience reads her poems because she is at the center of each of them (Carolyn 221). Shelley usually describes the events that come into his life, which are related mostly to nature and life’s cessation. He writes about each of the deaths that he sees in his life. It is imperative to note that their focus on the issue was informed by their passionate love for their loved ones. In many ways, the poems mentioned here go against the social norms about death. The poets not only discuss the subject but go so far as to break it down and even inscribe their own death. This comparison revealed that we could only understand the end by confronting it and that we might experience the presence of death in a variety of ways, whether in dread, welcome, or ambiguity. What these poets guard against is turning a blind eye to the cessation of life and refusing to address it.
Bibliography
Ary, Donald, et al. Introduction to Research in Education. Wadsworth, 2009.
Biography (a). “Emily Dickson Biography.” The Biography.com website, A&E Television
Networks, 2018, www.biography.com/people/emily-dickinson-9274190. Accessed 26 May 2018.
Biography (b). “Percy Bysshe Shelley Biography.” The Biography.com website, A&E
Television Networks, 2018, www.biography.com/people/percy-bysshe-shelley-9481527.
Accessed 26 May 2018.
Bloom, Harold. Poets and Poems. Chelsea House Publishers, 2004.
Brown, Gillian, and George Yule. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Carolyn, Williams. “‘Inhumanly Brought Back to life and misery’: Mary Wollstonecraft,
Frankenstein, and the Royal Humane Society.” Women’s writing, vol. 8, no. 2, 2001, pp. 213-
234. Taylor and Francis Online,
doi:10.1080/09699080100200190.
Dickinson, Emily. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Little Brown, 1976.
Dietrich, Nina. Emily Dickinson's Death Poetry. GRIN Verlag, 2002,
www.grin.com/document/19970. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Jakobi, Tim. Religious aspects in Emily Dickinson's 'Nature Poems.' GRIN Verlag, 2004,
www.grin.com/document/84786. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Liu, Xiaochun. “Dimensionalities of the Death Theme in Shelley's Poetry.” Studies in Literature and Language, vol. 10, no. 1, 2015, pp. 63-66. CS Canada, doi:10.3968/6367.
Nesteruk, Peter. “The Many Deaths of Emily Dickinson.” The Emily Dickinson Journal, vol. 6, no. 1, 1997, pp. 25-43. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/edj.0.0086.
Engle, Patricia. “Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” The Explicator, vol. 60, no. 2, 2010, pp. 72-75.
Ruston, Sharon. Shelley and Vitality. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
Shelley, Percy B. Selected Poems. Dover, 1993.
Swarnakar, Sudha. “Representation of Death in Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson.” A Cor das Letras, vol. 8, no. 1, 2017, pp. 29-42. Ingenta Connect, doi:10.13102/cl.v8i1.1563.
Trivedi, Anjana, and Neeru Tandon. Thematic Patterns of Emily Dickinson's Poetry. Atlantic
Publishers & Distributors, 2008.
