Emily_Dickinson's_Poetry

Poem By: Emily Dickinson From: The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson XII To hear an oriole sing May be a common thing, Or only a divine. It is not of the bird Who sings the same, unheard, As unto [the] crowd. The fashion of an ear Attireth that it hear In dun or far. So whether it be rune, Or whether it be none, Is of within; The “tune is in the tree,” The sceptic showeth me; “No, sir! In thee!” Literal Meaning The literal meaning of the Poem is that hearing an oriole may be something common, or something special. It is not the bird’s fault that it only sings the same songs, or whistles the same tune to a crowd that doesn’t pay attention. We do not hear the song or tune because we do not have the richest or best hearing, so it seems dull or fair. It could be magical or splendid, or it could be terrible and indifferent. It all depends on how you look at it or hear it. Someone who doubts it is wonderful says it comes from the tree, but I say it comes from the heart of the bird. Symbolic Meaning The symbolic meaning of the Poem is that happiness, prosperity, and harmony is not often seen by everyone, and opportunities are usually passed up. It is the people’s fault they can not find happiness when it is staring them in their face. It is always their, but people ignore it. Only those who truly wish to be happy and can recognize harmony and prosperity are those who find it. For them it is magical, but for others, they just consider them lucky, and that it was not tem who found its calling. They say it was just luck, even when they say they work hard. It is like the wealthy, they worked hard to get where they are, but everyone says they were just born with it or got a lucky break. They might have gotten a lucky break, but they took it when it was there. Literary Terms ← Alliteration = “…sings the same…” “Or only…” “ ‘tune is in the tree’ ” “…sceptic showeth…” ← Allusion = Oriole- a bird found in eastern North America. Ear- a part of your body on your head that allows you to hear. Rune- a mystical artifact believed to have been used in ancient “spells” ← Anastrophe = “It is not of the bird…” “Attireth that it hear,” ← Aphorism = “It is not of the bird, who sings the same, unheard, As unto crowd.” ← Apostrophe = “To hear an oriole sing…” ← Connotation = Rune is implying something magical. ← Hyperbole = “The fashion of the ear…Attireth that it hear” ← Metonymy = Sceptic for Skeptic. ← Verse = 15 verses in the poem. ← Stanza = 5 stanzas, with three verses in each. ← Tone = The narrator uses a serious and knowing tone for the poem. ← Theme = happiness, prosperity, and harmony is not often seen by everyone, and opportunities are usually passed up. ← Symbols = Oriole- sun, light and happiness. Tree- wasting energy, time, and money on foolish pursuits. Singing- happiness, harmony and joy. Rune- mystical ← Rhyme Scheme = The first two verses rhyme at the last word, while the third is like the punch-line Word Meanings ← Divine- very good, extremely nice ← Crowd- group of people ← Fashion- the making up of ← Attireth- rich, nice, expensive, perfect or near perfect ← Rune- a mystical artifact believed to have been used in ancient “spells” ← Sceptic- someone in or with doubt ← Showeth- show ← Thee- 1) you 2) me Putting it all together The Literary Terms and Word Meanings, after explaining, make my explanation of the symbolic meaning of the poem more understandable. When we see Rhyme Scheme, Tone, Stanza, Verse, Hyperbole, Connotation, Allusion, and Alliteration, we see the use of the terms to give more meaning to the theme of the poem, which is that happiness, prosperity, and harmony is not often seen by everyone, and opportunities are usually passed up. Also, instead of saying the meaning, using symbols gets people to think, and they tend to understand much better than if they were just told, and that is what the narrator is aiming for. The narrator aims for an understanding of opportunity and happiness that is passed up, and that every moment can be a good one if you want it to be. That is the importance of the Literary Terms and Word Meanings. Bibliography ← "Symbol Dictionary." Dream Moods. 30 May 2008      . ← Literary Terms." Tnellen. 30 May 2008 . ← Dictionary.com. 30 May 2008 .