As imperceptibly as grief Emily Dickinson

1. Finish this well known phrase: “Time flies when . . .” As imperceptibly as griefEmily Dickinson Learning Objective: To consider how the poet’s experiences might influence their writing

2. Imagine . . . You are stuck at home for the whole of the summer holidays. You cannot leave the house. All you can do is look out of the window. What sort of things would you notice that you probably don’t notice now?

3. EMILY DiCKINSON (1830-1886) Information from www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org Birthplace: Amherst, Massachusetts She was born and lived in ‘Homestead’ Main Street for all but 15 years of her life. She spent a lot of time writing in her bedroom and actually rarely ever went out after 1865.

4. A bird came down the walk A Bird came down the Walk— He did not know I saw— He bit an Angleworm in halves And ate the fellow, raw, And then he drank a Dew From a convenient Grass— And then hopped sidewise to the Wall To let a Beetle pass— He glanced with rapid eyes That hurried all around— They looked like frightened Beads, I thought— He stirred his Velvet Head Like one in danger, Cautious, I offered him a Crumb And he unrolled his feathers And rowed him softer home— Than Oars divide the Ocean, Too silver for a seam, Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon, Leap, plashless as they swim.

5. EMILY DiCKINSON (1830-1886) Because I could not stop for Death,He kindly stopped for me;The carriage held but just ourselvesAnd Immortality.We slowly drove, he knew no haste,And I had put awayMy labor, and my leisure too,For his civility.We passed the school where children played,Their lessons scarcely done;We passed the fields of gazing grain,We passed the setting sun. Information from www.theguardian.com The house on North Pleasant Street where she lived between the ages of 10 and 25 was built next to a graveyard, with her bedroom window facing the cemetery. Five of her school friends died of consumption and were buried in it during her time there. Death sets a thing significantThe eye had hurried by,Except a perished creatureEntreat us tenderly

6. EMILY DiCKINSON (1830-1886) Information from www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org Although Emily Dickinson's calling as a poet began in her teen years, she came into her own as an artist during a short but intense period of creativity that resulted in her composing, revising, and saving hundreds of poems. That period, which scholars identify as 1858-1865, overlaps with the most significant event of American nineteenth-century history, the Civil War.

7. This should be an encouragement to some of you! EMILY DiCKINSON (1830-1886) Information from www.theguardian.com Only eight of her poems were published during her lifetime, the rest being circulated in manuscript form among her friends and family. Many poems exist in more than one version. After her death she became an overnight sensation. Her manuscripts also play with typographical convention in their layout, punctuation and capitalisation. Even in fair copies alternative words or lines are retained, suggesting that for Dickinson there is no such thing as a definitive, final version.

8. I’m Nobody! Who are You? I’m Nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – too? Then there’s a pair of us! Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know! How dreary – to be – Somebody! How public – like a Frog –  To tell one’s name – the livelong June –  To an admiring Bog! What does this tell us about her character?

9. Select, summarise & explain • Which phrases tells us that Dickinson spent a lot of time at home? • How does the writer show that Charles Wadsworth had a big impact on Dickinson? • What does the text tell us about what Dickinson’s family were like (remember to try to interpret the words the writer uses)?

10. As imperceptibly as griefEmily Dickinson Learning Objective: To explore how the poet develops the theme of time in the poem How will you feel on this date?

11. Word search You have 5 minutes on your table to look up the meanings for the following words: • Imperceptible • Lapsed • Perfidy • Distilled • Sequestered • Courteous • Harrowing

12. Word search • Imperceptible – slight/subtle – hardly noticeable • Lapsed – not valid / expired / out of date • Perfidy – being deceitful and untrustworthy • Distilled – heated to extract something • Sequestered – isolated / hidden away • Courteous – polite and respectful • Harrowing – really distressing

13. Word association Summer Winter

14. The poem Read the poem and try to identify some of the comparisons that Dickinson is making. Summer / grief Dusk / end of day like a guest who is leaving End of summer like death

15. As imperceptibly as griefThe summer lapsed away, –Too imperceptible, at last,To seem like perfidy. Why does she compare the passing of summer to the passing of grief? What does she feel about the ending of the summer? Do you ever feel like time has tricked you? Think about that phrase “time flies . . .”

16. A quietness distilled,As twilight long begun,Or Nature, spending with herselfSequestered afternoon. What happens as summer passes? How could this be both literal and metaphorical? What technique is this? How does it present Nature? If twilight is “long begun” what does that tell us about it?

17. D is a short sound. Why might this alliteration be here in this stanza? The dusk drew earlier in,The morning foreign shone, –A courteous, yet harrowing grace,As guest who would be gone. How are autumnal/winter mornings foreign from summer ones? Sometimes good comes out of something really difficult. Can you think of a good example? This is an oxymoron. Grace = an undeserved gift, it is a positive image. Harrowing is something really distressing. What is Dickinson saying about the passing of the summer? For a reclusive person like Dickinson, visitors provided a lifeline to the world. Here she is describing the guest who is trying to leave but is too polite to just go.

18. And thus, without a wing,Or service of a keel,Our summer made her light escapeInto the beautiful. What is the problem for a bird with no wings? Where has summer gone? What would happen to a ship with no keel? What does this suggest about the summer?

19. structure As imperceptibly as griefThe summer lapsed away, –Too imperceptible, at last,To seem like perfidy. A quietness distilled,As twilight long begun,Or Nature, spending with herselfSequestered afternoon. The dusk drew earlier in,The morning foreign shone, –A courteous, yet harrowing grace,As guest who would be gone. And thus, without a wing,Or service of a keel,Our summer made her light escapeInto the beautiful. What do you notice about the structure of this poem? This poem was originally 8 stanzas long but in the final version Dickinson took out stanzas 3-6. Why might this 4 stanza structure be better for her theme?

20. Changing mood Stanza 1 “grief” “perfidy” Stanza 4 “light escape” “beautiful” How has the tone changed over the poem? How does the poet feel about the end of summer by the end of the poem?

21. theme The passage of time. Death Perhaps most beautiful in our memory Quiet and unnoticed, often until it is gone Inevitable part of nature Life is like the seasons so summer = fullness of life and death is linked to winter With death comes grief, which fades imperceptibly. The summer also ‘dies’ imperceptibly but leaves us in a different mood altogether.

22. Respond How does Emily Dickinson present the theme of time in the poem ‘As Imperceptibly as Grief’? • Write about what Dickinson is saying about time. • Write about how Dickinson uses language and structure to present her ideas about time. • Write about how Dickinson’s own experiences might have influenced her ideas about time.