User talk:Bv2007

Emily Dickinson's Opening Lines
Emily Dickinson’s opening lines is a big part of her strength as a poet. She sometimes uses harsh or emotional language such as “death”, “buzz”, or “funeral” to capture the reader’s attention. This makes the reader want to read more to figure out what emotion propels these words. She formats many of the opening lines as the start of a story with a single subject performing an action. For instance, “A Bird came down the Walk” seems like a simple occurrence to witness, and the reader is left pondering why it would inspire her to write. As the poem continues, Dickinson seems to just observe its natural behavior, but surprises the reader by giving it humanly attributes and includes an abrupt and abstract ending. It’s also interesting to notice her use of animals. Many poems are observing a very familiar object, but relating it to something unexpected. Format wise, she uses an iambic meter that creates a sing-song beat as you read her poetry. This encourages the reader to continue because they get caught up in a rhythm as she continues the thought. Many times the sentence itself is separated between lines, forcing the reader to keep reading to get the complete idea. The use of dashes is Dickinson’s trademark and it serves as a pause or break, drawing more attention to the poem as it makes the reader ask why certain dashes exist. Another thing many first lines have in common is her description of senses. Many openings express what she sees or feels, making it seem she’s writing about herself, but usually it’s very surprising to notice that she’s commenting on a topic very detached from herself. Overall, Dickinson’s first lines set the reader up to be mentally involved in her poetry and to decipher the meaning behind it.