Dickinson vs. Blake

A detailed Summary of Dickinson vs. Blake

For my analysis, I chose to compare the poems of Emily Dickinson and William Blake. Dickinson's poem is entitled "My Life had stood-a Loaded Gun" and Blake's poem is entitled "The Tyger." In both poems, nature plays an important part and it is obvious to the reader that both Dickinson and Blake feel a fondness, yet a slight fear towards nature.

In "My Life had stood-a Loaded Gun," Dickinson gives the reader the feeling that nature is her source of guidance and inspiration. Like Blake, Dickinson believed that people needed to understand nature before they could begin to comprehend humanity because humanity was just a part of nature. Unlike many others, she felt that nature was beautiful and must be understood (Microsoft Encarta).

The poems chosen for this analysis deal with nature on multiple levels of tone and emotion. Both poems approach the topic with a distinct sense of intimacy and comfort, but express it in a dark and somber manner. Emily Dickinson's poem, "My Life had stood-a Loaded Gun," was published in 1929. William Blake's poem "The Tyger," is believed to have been written between 1790 and 1792. Both poems have common elements, yet it is apparent that about 140 years separate them.

The main question that I feel that Blake is asking in the "The Tyger" is that how can the same God make such a vicious animal and also make such an innocent animal. The choice of words conveys a relaxed sensibility: "What immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fear symmetry?"

The overall mood of the poems, as I said, are consistent- somber and looming. This continues until the final lines of the poems: in "My Life had stood-a Loaded Gun," Dickinson states "For I have but the power to kill, Without -the power to die." In "The Tyger," Blake finishes with "What immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fear symmetry." These endings, in my opinion, do not lend themselves to a reading of comfort and familiarity. They conjure up dark thoughts as the final thoughts of the speaker are negative.

Blake uses a lot of visual imagery in the poem to convey his message to the people. In "The Tyger" the nobles fought back against the French republic in the French Revolution. In my opinion, this is a reference to the battle between good and evil. The next quotation shows this "when the stars threw down their spears and water'd heaven with their tears." At the time when Blake wrote his poem, the industrial revolution was going on, and because of his imagery you could almost hear the banging and clanging of the machines and the battles of the French Revolution. The next quotation shows this: "What the hammer ...what the anvil." This reminds us of a black

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Approximate Word count = 985
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts