A Study on the Rhetorical Features of Emily Dickinson，sDeath Images

Song+Mengqi

【Abstract】Dickinson was praised as “one of the greatest English poem poet” （Whicher George Frisbie， 1957）， from which we can see her position in the history of American modern poetry. She created 1775 poems in her lifetime. According to statistics， a quarter of the poems are associated with death images. Image construction in Emily Dickinson death poems is one of the elements forming the charm of her poetry. It is essential to study the death theme and its rhetorical features for further exploring the spirit and mind of Dickinsons poetry， and is particularly important for the understanding of Dickinsons artistic achievement. In this paper， four main rhetorical devices are discussed including metaphor， personification， symbolization and synesthesia. The use of a variety of rhetorical devices， combined with skillful composing techniques， give special charm to the death image in her poetry.

【Key words】Emily Dickinson； death image； rhetorical features

As a saying goes， “If Walt Whitman can be called the father of modern American poetry， then Emily Dickinson must be the mother of modern American poetry.” They worked together to open a door， which have attracted modern poets to seek new forms of poetry representation.

1. Introduction to the Image of Death

Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus held that “Death is nothing to us. When we exist， death is not； and when death exists， we are not”， representing the views of the traditional Western concept of death. While modern German philosopher Martin Heidegger proposed that “death is its own death.” （1927） Dickinson pulls the notion of death from the end of life to the process of life， so that death becomes an existence with which life is faced： death is no longer an inaccessible future， but an objective reality in existing world. And actually death becomes a part of life， as Hegel once said， “to think of life as particles of death”（1806）：

'T was just this time last year I died.

I know I heard the corn，

From Dickinsons poems， we can read the tragic death， lingering death， helpless death， even the death of boredom. We can say that such patient description of the relation between death and life is not to show that life is valuable， but honestly to regard death as a part of life， or even the most important part.

Death is also the tavern to eternal life， seems ready for access， which is full of warmth， for one weary traveler to recharge your batteries， and embark on a new journey tomorrow：

What Inn is this

Where for the night

Dickinson is unique in the description of the consciousness of death. She is not simply singing for death， nor taking the death as a raw material and objects. She faces death squarely， but not rigidly adheres to death； she looks beyond death， and to achieve eternal life through death.

2. Rhetorical Devices Used in Depiction of the Death Images with Examples

In order to make her death poems more vivid and more attractive， Dickinson used a variety of rhetorical devices to achieve her goal.

Metaphorical twists composite imagery is quite common in poetry， and is also an expressive imagery type. Such imagery exists in poetry， and play its role as analogies. （Feidlson and Brodtkorb， 1971） In the death poem “A clock stopped — ”， the author depicts out the momentary death metaphorically. The stop of clock is like the stop of peoples heartbeat， which is difficult to fix， though was just ticking and swinging， even for the most outstanding craftsmen.

In her death poems， the use of personification is also very significant. Through personifying death， Emily Dickinson creates a unique class of characters in American literature – grim reaper， the god of death—follower of human hypocrisy. Her creations are aimed to show people the transition between life and death. Therefore， we can say that Dickinsons personified death earned a reputation for her， and also to add a class of unusual characters to American literature portray— the image of death， the follower of human hypocrisy.

Symbolization is also an important rhetorical device commonly used in the death poetry of Dickinson. Symbolization is to use living things or non-living things to represent or express something else. In the death poem “One dignity delays for all –”， by the use of symbolism， Dickinson makes every effort to depict the power of death， its elegance and arrogance， and the incompetence， humbleness and submissiveness of the mortal who are so helpless when faced with death that they can only yield. The kind of fear and despair people show in the face of death are vividly expressed in the poem.

When used in literature， synesthesia refers to a rhetorical device， in which the language depicting a sense can be used to represent another sense， so that the sound has taste， taste has color， color has sound， etc.. The complexity of this feeling is also sometimes referred to as “the conversion of meaning” which is mainly used in poetry. Great artistic effect is achieved in Dickinsons death poems by using the technique synesthesia. The poem “There is certain slant of light” is one of the typical representations of Dickinsons use of special technique synesthesia. Dickinson associates “a certain slant of light” another kind of feeling. First， the poet sees， and feels， and finally hears， and all the three senses （vision， perception， hearing） appear in the poet's mind simultaneously， which is too difficult to describe. Such subtle feeling can be aptly portrayed when the synesthesia is used.

3. Conclusion

Despite of the fact that Emily Dickinson also uses other imagery techniques in the death poems， these four rhetorical devices mentioned in the previous chapter are the most outstanding ones. The use of a variety of rhetorical devices， combined with skillful composing techniques， give special charm to the death image in her poetry. Discussion above about the rhetorical features of the death image is only my humble opinions. More systematic and detailed analysis are recommended in the future.

References：

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[2]Dickinson，Emily.The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson.Little Brown & Co，1976.

[3]Hegel，Georg Wilhelm Friedrich.Phenomenology of Spirit，1806；trans.by A.V.Miller （Oxford University Press，USA，1977.）

[4]Heidegger，Martin.Being and Time，1927；trans.by John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson （London：SCM Press，1962）；re-translated by Joan Stambaugh （Albany：State University of New York Press，1996）

[5]Frisbie，Whicher George.This Was A Poet：a Critical Biography of Emily Dickinson.University of Michigan Press，1957.

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