Emily Dickinson Quotations Trivia Quiz

Answer: knee

This poem "When a Lover is a Beggar", (# 1314,) is a great piece of feminist literature, written by Dickinson in 1878, at the age of 48.
It could, of course be seen as sour grapes, as Dickinson was never married, but it still makes some interesting observations that could still be seen as valid at the time of its first publishing in 1945, and even yet today.

Answer: Being

This quotation is from "I felt a Funeral in my Brain", (# 280).It makes a great metaphor for revelation or paradigm shift. Although it was written in 1861, eleven years after her earliest known poem, this piece of verse can still be seen as an early work, for her writing did not become particularly prolific until the end of 1858, just three years previously.

Answer: a Fly buzz

"I heard a Fly buzz - when I died" (# 465). What is interesting about this poem, written in 1862, and published, like the poem from the previous question, ten years after her death, is the complete hopelessness it presents. The message portrayed in the verse suggests the insignificance of the death of a person, a concept that is made all the more shocking by the fact that Dickinson was raised by her father very strictly within the doctrines of Christianity.

Answer: Chain

"Much Madness is Divinest Sense" (#435): my life's motto. This extreme statement about individualism was, outside of those few published during her lifetime, was among those of her poems that were earliest published; it was first printed in 1890, only four years after her death at the age of 56.

Answer: beheads

"Apparently with no Surprise" (# 1624): The first Dickinson poem I ever read, this is a dear one to my heart. Written in 1884, near the end of Dickinson's life, this piece of verse was another of those published relatively early, in 1890.
In this poem, the message seems simply to be that "life goes on". This message is strongly conveyed throughout the poem through its simple story, and is strengthened by the author's use of personification, as well as through the mood and the tone.
The story of Dickinson's poem creates the basis of what she is trying to say. This story is that a flower is killed by a frost, and is about how nothing seems to be affected by this death; everything continues as if the flower had never lived at all. This latter part is, in itself, the bare message of the poem. Dickinson reminds the reader that no matter how much death and suffering there is in the world, always "The Sun proceeds unmoved". It is a fact that neither the sun nor the moon ever stops to mourn death, and Dickinson wonders what it is that compels people to do so. Her point is further emphasised when she tells the reader that the sun continues "To measure off another day/For an approving God". Dickinson notes that not even God changes the course of life because of someone's death. The story sets a solid base from which Dickinson can better express her ideas.
Another of the contributing factors to Dickinson's message that life does go on, and also a characteristic of many of her poems, is her strong use of personification. For example, the killer frost in her poem becomes a "blonde Assassin". By giving the frost human features, the reader's focus moves from the death of a flower to the death, or even the murder of, a person, making this poem an effective extended metaphor. Also contributing to this refocus of the reader's attention are the frost's actions. It "beheads" the flower. The image of one person beheading another has much more impact than that of a flower dying in a frost. These new images allow for a much more potent articulation of the message that life goes on than would be possible without Dickinson's powerful use of personification.
Also extremely important to this poem's central message and the conviction with which it is put forth are the tone and the changing mood of the poem. In its first few lines, "Apparently with no surprise/To any happy Flower", the poem introduces some very nice images. At this point, the mood is a pleasant one, but that changes in the very next line. Suddenly, much to the surprise of the reader, "The frost beheads it [the flower] at its play". In only one line, the mood turns in a completely different direction. The only element that keeps the mood from becoming unbearably morbid is the tone that is applied to the rest of the poem. Dickinson expresses a very strong message, and does so from an 'outside-looking-in' point of view. There can be no holes found in the logic of the idea that there is really no sense in someone putting their own life on hold because someone else's has ended. Without the use of such an indifferent tone, the cold logic of the message would be somewhat obscured.
There is no doubt that Emily Dickinson has very successfully and very forcefully communicated her message to her readers. She is well known for her use of metaphor and personification to get her point across, and this poem makes a wonderful example for both. With a story of the smallest scale she has expressed an idea of great magnitude. Even her choice of tone and her use of atmosphere and mood further enhance her expression. It is almost as if every word of her poem echoes with the concept of living, no matter what.

Answer: Poets

"I Reckon - When I Count at All -" (# 569). Written in 1862, published in 1929, is a strangely paradoxical poem, as Dickinson here expresses in verse the fact that she relates poetry to the Gods, and yet she does this with no egotism. Despite the fact that she had, by the time she penned these words, produced well over 500 other poems, she proves here that she did not see herself as a poet, nor even necessarily capable of producing true poetry.

Answer: Microscopes

The poem is " 'Faith'is a Fine Invention" (# 185). This is a cute little four-liner written early in Dickinson's career, and is a sarcastic little crack at what she viewed as society's deterioration of faith, of believing without seeing.

Answer: fail

" 'Tis so much Joy! 'Tis so much Joy!" (# 172). Another early poem of Dickinson's, (written in 1860), and among the number of others to receive publication in 1890, this poem is of particular note for its sophisticated use of technique; the final message of the poem is the perfect opposite of that which is sent in the opening lines. It is a poem about fear of success.

Answer: Pleasure

"The Heart asks Pleasure - First - " (# 536). Written in 1862, originally published 1890, this poem presents a bleak but poignant comment on the human condition, and what we people are able to withstand.

Answer: Presentiment

"Presentiment is that Long Shadow on the Lawn" (# 764). Another four-liner, this 1864 poem is a wonderful example of Dickinson's directness, and her economy of words.