Emily Dickensonās poem, āif I can stop one Heart from breakingā is a seven line poem that carries the rhyme scheme ABABCBB. This poem may seem simple and mundane at first but if one were to investigate further it is a very compelling poem that forces its readers to take a look at themselves and the way they view life. Emily Dickenson grew up in an era where the poets concentrated solely on the meaning of life and oneās connection to nature. Her seclusion from the outside world allowed her to reflect on life and the meaning of it. In the first stanza of the poem it seems as though no heart has been broken or nothing has gone wrong and she is thinking of ways she can keep it that way. Dickenson feels that her being able to help someone from an aching heart will allow her to have a fulfilling life and not live life in vain. Her use of diction shows this need to prevent pain and help others as seen here āease, cool, helpā. Unlike the first part of the poem Dickenson in the second stanza, seems to concentrate more on helping someone or something in pain, than helping them to avoid it. I guess she saw that there is no way you can actually prevent everyone from heartache but you can help them get over it.
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Introduction to Poetry:
Envisioning Poetry
ENG 2003, section 1248
Prof Jody R. Rosen
Spring 2012
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I agree with Shae’s interpration of this poem.
I also interpreted the poem slightly differently, In my opinion the poem is about the idea of helping others and preventing unneeded suffering. The writer repeats the word “one” trying to showcase how a small amount of effort can bring joy to life. Basically helping others will give meaning to life and provide joy.
shae, will you be writing about this poem for Essay #2? I’d recommend a longer poem for the subject of Essay #2.
I’m glad you identified the rhyme scheme–but what effect does the rhyme have for you?What about the issue the author of our textbook raises, that the image of the “fainting Robin” is, as he describes it, “a bit weary”?
I in my opinion this poem explains how it is important to help others. it seems to me that emily experienced a lot of sadness and wanted to prevent others from making the mistakes she made. she wants to help these people so that they dont experience the terrible heartache that she has because, sadness is a horrible thing. emily doenst want others to suffer, especially if she can help them. Emily doesnt want to watch others go through the horrible pain that she had to go through when she did whatever it is that made her unhappy. she wants to let others learn from her mistakes and her bad choices so that no one has to feel as bad as she did. She is saying that if she can help at least one person stay happy, then she will not have lived a useless life.
I feel this poem isn’t written as a declaration of how one should live his own life, but as a direct result of Emily’s own emotional distress. In the chapter it explains that Emily’s poems are inspired by her personal experiences and the message in one may completely contradict the message in another greatly depending on her mood. It is also summarized that this poem does not use her typical style. Looking at her other poems they are all very metaphorical and subliminal and this one is just very direct and explicit. All that leads me to believe that Emily was probably going through heartbreak and found it very unbareable and distressing and one of her ways to relieve it and attempt to rationalize what she was feeling and what actions she can take against it was to write this poem. I think she felt a lot of pain and discomfort and just wished the emotion itself, not even the experiences that caused it, but the emotion just went away or never came in the first place. And since she couldn’t prevent it for herself she felt that if she could prevent anyone else from feeling the same attrocity or at least ease their pain as she wishes she could ease hers, that would make her life worthwhile.