There S A Certain Slant Of Light

There s a certain slant of light.

There s a certain slant of light. Heavenly hurt it gives us. There s a certain slant of light is one of her most well known poems one that provides a nearly perfect indication of what dickinson s work was all about. So the situation presented in the poem is that of a speaker contemplating the death like winter afternoon. There s a certain slant of light by emily dickinson.

For dickinson more. There s a certain slant of light winter afternoons that oppresses like the heft of cathedral tunes heavenly hurt it gives us we can find no scar but internal difference where the meanings are none may teach it any tis the seal despair an imperial affliction sent us of the air. There s a certain slant of light has several main themes. So yes we can t escape the elements of depression and despair here but it isn t just about doom and gloom.

Put simply the poem describes the way a shaft of winter sunlight prompts the speaker to reflect on the nature of religion death and despair. So despair is not merely psychological in this poem. Between there s a certain slant of light and ode to a nightingale the similarity is mainly that both poets have used a thing from nature as the subject keats s nightingale and. There s a certain slant of light was written in 1861 and is like much of dickinson s poetry deeply ambiguous.

Indeed despair and presumption were the two sins that could prevent salvation and condemn you to hell. The poem opens with the idea of there being a certain slant of light in winter afternoons that oppresses it kind of feels like the seriousness associated with cathedral tunes the speaker then compares the light to a kind of heavenly hurt that leaves no scar. These include nature and the importance of its meaning god and religion alienation and loneliness and death. In her analysis of there s a certain slant of light in her book dickinson which contains a raft of fascinating and convincing readings of individual poems by emily dickinson the critic helen vendler points out that despair carried theological weight in the nineteenth century when dickinson was writing.

Franklin harvard university press 1999. There s certain slant of light on winter afternoons that oppresses like the weight of cathedral tunes. She uses the imagery of winter light to create connections with the speaker s internal conflict over meaning despair and understanding. Winter symbolizes death and afternoon further stands for death.

She is reminded of her ultimate end. This light will be impossible to describe but as the stanzas go by the lyrical voice will try to put into words how this light affects him her. The poem depicts how a certain slant of light oppresses the lyrical voice. There s a certain slant of light source.

Summary and analysis the poem describes the slant rays of light in a winter afternoon.