An Annotation of Emily Dickinsons The Last Night that She Lived :: Poem Poetry Poet Essays Dickinson Last Night

An Annotation of Emily Dickinsons The hold up Night that She LivedDickinsons The Last Night that She Lived presents a meditation on the reception of the utterer unit and those with her musical composition they are confronted with the death of a female friend. Strangely, in dealing with the subject of death, Dickinson steers away from the metaphysical aspect of such a heavy situation and remains firmly anchored in the tangible world. The loudspeaker makes no references to God or the afterlife, and her allusions to nature are fleeting. The poem is anything hardly an attempted justification of the death of her friend, rather it is resembles a catalogue of the tender responses of those who remain in the earthly realm after the death of a love one.The Last Night that She Livedby Emily Dickinson The last Night that She LivedIt was a Common NightExcept the Dying--this to UsMade Nature contrastingWe watch overd smallest things--Things overlooked beforeBy this great light upon our M indsItalicized--as twere.As We went out and inBetween Her final RoomAnd Rooms were Those to be aliveTomorrow were, a BlameThat Others could existWhile She mustiness finish quiteA Jealousy for Her aroseSo nearly infinite--We waited while She passes--It was a narrow time--Too jostled were Our Souls to speakAt length the notice came.She mentioned, and forgot--Then lightly as a ReedBent to the Water, struggled scarce--Consented, and was dead--And We-We put the Hair--And drew the Head erect--And then an awful leisure wasBelief to regulate--It is state immediately that nothing spectacular is taking place within the speakers immanent surroundings in response to the situation. The universe has not paused for the departing soul of a woman, or those left behind. It is clear from the first lines that the Dickinson will make no leaps to paint nature as an intelligible or responsive force.The speaker is all too aware that it is the confrontation with the death of a loved one that causes Thos e to be alive to view their surroundings with a contrary slant. The event of death has jarred them into a state of heightened awareness. Previously inevident things smallest things have been brought into focus. It is not the world that has changed, but their perception of it.It is also important to note that the speaker refers to Us. For the remainder of the poem she will only refer to herself as part of a collective. The word I is absent from the poem.