Artifact 4: Original Composition in the style of Emily Dickinson

This light buzz I'm feeling -

I fault your eyes.

Your Want has me -

Seemingly in Paradise.

Without you, my love -

There's not a moment's calm.

My Heart can't rest,

in the Garden of my dream.

But a knot you tied - for Silver rings

And of Necessity - your eyes afraid.

Fear not, give me your all.

My hands are now colored Red.

Dear Classmates,

For my original composition, I decided to try to emulate the style of Emily Dickinson and some aspects of her poetry style. Dickinson’s poems have a distinct flow to them which is hard to emulate but I have tried my best.

The first style I focused on was the rhyme scheme. Before Dickinson, the rhyme scheme followed a regular ABCB pattern. However, Dickinson was the first to introduce the ABC-slanted B pattern in which the second B sounds similar to the first but is not a perfect rhyme. When she sent some poems to be reviewed by a close friend, he thought she was close to the idea of poetry but “hadn’t got it yet”. One of Dickinson’s work that would support this would obviously be “Tell the Truth but tell it slant”. As is my poem, in the second paragraph the words calm and dream do not perfectly rhyme but are slanted.

The other aspect of Dickinson poetry I focused on was the capitalization of certain words to emphasize them. The capitalization of words like Want, Paradise, Silver and Red make the emphasis on their meaning stand out.

For the visual representation, I sought help from a friend because I couldn’t find an appropriate picture to back my work. The lovers holding hand with one covered in blood highlights the subtle drama behind their love. I thought this was in line with Dickinson’s own writing because I always think that there is an inherent truth behind her writing. The secrecy with which she handled her poems is a testament to her desire to know the truth but keep it hidden. Dickinson’s parents’ financial stability is probably a good reason for this, among many others.

All in all, I tried to write something in Dickinson’s writing spirit however, I think I fall far short in graceful writing that her works flow in.

Sincerely,

Arjun Thakur
ENGL 214