Essay
Analysing 'He fumbles at your Soul'
Analysing 'He fumbles at your Soul' by Emily Dickinson, an A grade exam style answer.
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‘He fumbles at your Soul’Explore how Emily Dickinson presents ideas and feelings about death in ‘He fumbles at your Soul’ and
make connections with one or two other poems from your collection.
You should consider Dickinson’s use of poetic and stylistic techniques and significant literary or other
relevant contexts.
Dickinson approached the subject of death from the other side, as it were, taking on the persona of
someone who has been through the experience of death and is now looking back on it from some
unknown point in the next life. This imaginative strategy is used in this, gentle and drawn-out poem
'He fumbles at your Soul’. Here, Dickinson describes a compelling authoritative figure, who can be
interpreted as Death.
In ‘He fumbles at your Soul’ an idea of possession takes place and power becomes a central theme.
The ambiguous pronoun reference ‘he’ alludes to a mysterious male figure who has unearthly
powers. In this poem, it can be interpreted as Death, where Dickinson depicts his power as
manipulative and irresistible. Dickinson extends the musical metaphor (‘keys’) and it creates the
violent image of being hit ruthlessly with the concrete noun ‘hammers’. The noun phrase ‘ethereal
blow’ describes a storm, emphasising the ferocity of Death and reveals his oppressiveness through
his control of the weather. Death ‘stuns you by degrees’ describes a numbness brought by the
dropping temperature. The verb ‘stuns’ has connotations of not being in control, a deprivation of
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