Emily Dickinson: I died for beauty, but was scarce

Emily Dickinson

I died for beauty, but was scarce

Emily

Unique, Lonely, Sensitive, Introverted

Daughter of Emily Norcross and Edward Dickinson

Poetry, Privacy, Reading

Loneliness, Love, Afraid

Society, Social Interaction, Outdoors

New Age of Poetry

Understanding her Perspective on Life, Death, Love, Nature, and Friendship

Amherst, Massachusetts

Dickinson

I died for beauty, but was scarce

Adjusted in the tomb,

When one who died for truth was lain

In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?

“For beauty,” I replied.

“And I for truth,—the two are one;

We brethren are,” he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a night,

We talked between the rooms,

Until the moss had reached our lips,

And covered up our names.

I died for beauty, but was scarce:

She died to achieve beauty, but it was rare???

She tried to become beautiful, but then failed??? She failed badly that she died???

She died for beauty, but was barely comfortable in the tomb,

when someone who died for telling the truth laid next to her.

The guy next to her asked why she died, and she said due to beauty.

He then said he died for truth and are like "brothers" because they share similar interests, desires, and death; Truth and Beauty are one.

After that day, they met every night to talk to each other between the tombs.

They kept talking until the moss had covered up their body, lips, and names on their tombstones, this stopped their ability to communicate and their legacy will soon be forgotten.

Connotations!

Rhyme Scheme!

Allusion:

Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

She was influenced by his poem. Beauty and truth are synonymous with each other. Each compliments the other. Beauty is always the realistic one and truth is always beautiful to say and hear. Both these terms can never be falsified. Ex: Ugly is a lie, A lie is Ugly. Knowing one is exposed to the truth is a beautiful thought.

Imagery, Personification, & Irony:

"Until the moss had reached our lips,

and covered up our names."

The author is trying to create an image of the moss growing and covering up the dead (Beauty and Truth) and their names (identity). The author is also giving the moss human qualities. This makes it ironic how the moss is the only living object in the poem; the dead talking.

Metaphor:

He questioned softly why I failed?

“For beauty,” I replied.

“And I for truth,—the two are one;

We brethren are,” he said.

The dead are metaphors for the idea of truth and beauty. They are compared as "brothers" since they share similar ideas and are connected in a way.

Symbols:

• Moss (ending of conversation and identity)
• Beauty and Truth (perfection)
• Death (failure)

At first Emily Dickinson is not satisfied with her own way of dying, but after a while it changes. Through out the poem, she seems comforted and happy by the fact that she died with someone who had similar ideas as her.

• Stanza 1: sets the setting of the poem and starts out sad about death.
• Stanza 2: it starts getting into the theme of the poem (beauty and truth) and why they died; the discussion gives the poem more life.
• Stanza 3: it is more depressing yet uplifting; she is not alone until the conversation ends.
• Dash: helps compare them as one and "brother"; be not ashamed.

Emily Dickinson named it "I died for beauty, but was scarce", because she wanted to tell people in her opinion that dying is beautiful and not depressing. She showed it throughout the poem.

• Death is not always lonely.
• Dying for a good reason helps to glorify death, though it will not always help someone remember you.
• Be true to who you are.
• Trying too hard can lead to failure.
• Death is stronger than beauty and truth.

Open-Ended Questions?!?!

Why would Emily Dickinson use the moss as the only living object in the poem?

How would Beauty and Truth be alike?

How is this poem related to John Keats' poem phrase?:

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

Bio Poem!!!!!

http://www.gradesaver.com/author/emily-dickinson/

I died for beauty, but was scarce

My Choice of Poem

http://www.bartleby.com/113/4010.html

Paraphrase!

Title?

By: Mayra Robles

Title!

ABCB

Theme!

Attitude!

Shifts!