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As Imperceptibly as Grief by Emily Dickinson analysis (Grade 9) £7.49   Add to cart

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As Imperceptibly as Grief by Emily Dickinson analysis (Grade 9)

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Indepth notes for the WJEC English Literature (9-1) specification.

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  • March 14, 2019
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  • 2016/2017
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By: marielouiselilac • 4 year ago

I would not call this Grade 9 standard

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jameskparry
As Imperceptibly as Grief by Emily Dickinson (P.10)
Narrative In the poem, Emily Dickinson is writing about her initial regret about the passing of time and this is
represented through three ways: the progression of seasons, the day and emotions.
Contexts Was written around 1850 but wasn’t published until 1886, posthumously. Emily Dickinson lived in
New England, America and was a reclusive, not leaving her house for nearly 30 years. Many of her
poems were inspired by nature and often the passing of time.
Themes Progression of Progression of the Day – The time of Progression of emotions –
Seasons – We see the the day plays a role in creating a Dickinson compares the passing
progression of summer progression, from brightness to of time to emotions fading over
into autumn. darkness, from day to night. time, “imperceptibly”.
Literary Similes – Throughout the poem, similes Extended Metaphor – While the passage of time is
Devices play a large role in expressing the passage compared to both emotions and the passing of the day,
of time, but particularly in how the writer the extended metaphor of the seasons is most prevalent
feels about this. She compares the process as it is constant throughout, being the subject of the first
to “Perfidy” which naturally has negative and last lines respectively. Summer is traditionally
connotations, showing how she feels as if linked to youth and happiness while as the seasons pass
the passing of time is betraying her – and the days grow darker, the connotations of time
showing her initial regret over the passing wasting away are often made in poetry. This gives the
of time. poem quite a melancholic mood.
This is pastoral poem and uses the imagery of the countryside to express its message. In this
instance, Emily Dickinson achieves distance by using pastoral imagery instead of attaching the
emotions present in the poem to specific people. Instead she refers to them purely as nouns. With the
immediacy created through the use of “our summer”, it is possible she did this so the poem applied
better to audiences and allowed them to reflect their own experiences onto somewhat a blank canvas,
achieving the isolation of an allegory.
Key Immediacy is created by referring to summer as “our summer”. This involves the reader more and
Language makes it easier for them to sympathise by creating the notion that this progression of time is not
exclusive to the writer, but a struggle for all.
By expressing how the passing of time is unlike the movement of a “wing” or a “keel”, graceful
imagery is conjured up – reinforcing the imperceptible nature of the passing of time, not at all visible
in how it occurs (like the movement of a wing or a keel) but invisible.
Form and The line lengths are irregular and have no clear rhyme scheme. Furthermore, there is no rhythm. This
Meter ties in with the subtle nature of the poem. A lyrical poem would better chronicle the clear fading of a
season, or the passing of time. However, this poem is continuous, often utilising enjambment and is
organised into one long stanza, to express the imperceptible fading of youth.
Structure While the movement of time is initially negative, the poem accounts her gradual acceptance. It begins
with her comparing time to “Perfidy” but later on she acknowledges the “foreign” morning to be a
“courteous, yet harrowing grace”. This climaxes in the final line when we see her full acceptance as
she describes how Summer “made her light escape into the beautiful”. By describing it as beautiful,
the audience recognises she no longer attaches so much grief to the lapsing away of summer, and has
come to see beauty in the smaller amount of time she has left.
Compare To Autumn by John Keats Afternoons by Phillip Larkin
s with…
Quotations to remember
As imperceptibly as Grief Too imperceptible at last
The Summer lapsed away To seem like Perfidy
As Twilight long begun Sequestered Afternoon
The morning foreign shone – And thus without a Wing
A courteous, yet harrowing Grace, Or service of a Keel
Our Summer made her light escape
Into the Beautiful.

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