An Analysis of Emily Dickinsons Poem 670 :: Emily Dickinson Poem 670 Essays

An Analysis of Emily Dickinsons Poem 670 Have you ever been sc argond by your own shadow? Or have you ever been walking house at night, and nothing unusual is happening, only you cant shake this feeling that whatever mass murderer is following close behind, waiting to strike? maybe you are crazy. More likely, though, you become scared by thinking of sure-enough(a) tales or stories, like all the people who have gone into the wood and mysteriously vanished with surface a trace. I knew one girl who saw The Blair mesmerize Project and had to sleep with all the lights and the TV on that night, and still to this twenty-four hours wont go traipsing into the woods. Emily Dickinson dealt a lot with the notion of us being more(prenominal) scared of ourselves than of our surroundings. This was from one of her more serious stages, unlike Do and gloaming Rhapsody (see the parodies here). The Brain has Corridors-surpassing / Material Place- Not too many people would kinda meet a ghost than be within their own minds, but Dickinson challenges that notion, throwing out the idea that the thought or anticipation of a dangerous event is much worse than the actual thing, like people who are afraid of needles. Most people, if you talk to them, will say they dread passing play to get a shot. Of course, if you approach them right as they come out of the doctors office, theyll say it wasnt bad at all. Of course, they may be lying to salve face. (A good way to tell is to look at their arm if it looks okay, then theyre telling the truth if it has turned seven shades of blue and has increase to the size of their neck, then they just got a tetanus shot and are bluffing about it not hurting.) But who is I? Who is ourself? The question in itself seems sooner simple, but is it? Its an interesting point that she raises, specifically within the phrase, Ourself behind ourself, concealed- Do we really know ourselves? How can we be behind ourselves? How many vague , rhetorical questions can I ask? Too many, obviously. Anyway, after some thought, I decided that Dickinson here is probably referring to the part of ourselves that wed rather not know, or maybe a part of ourselves that we dont know just because we cant see it.