Death in the Poems of Emily Dickinson and William Butler Yeats

The 2 verses under investigation in this paper, ending is a Dialogue by Emily Dickinson and Death by William butler Yeats are short commentaries on dying and what it represents for human beings. As it shall be seen, the metrical compositions evince a similar approach to the shoemakers last theme, although they also show the attach of distinct historical contexts. Both poets are extremely original in their thinking and writing, nevertheless it is possible to identify the influences that molded their work. In her poem, Dickinson regards finis as a mere separation between the body and the spirit before the passage into the afterlife. The brief poem has the form of a dramatic sequence, being structured as a dialogue between death and the human spirit. Yeats poem also speaks of death in derisive and ironic terms. Although the t angiotensin converting enzyme of the poem is indisputably ironic, the poem is severed by inner tensions man seems to be able to conquer death but, at the same time, death holds absolute sway over his life. Essentially, the two poems are comparable in their view of death, each transposing the ceaseless battle between the proud and lofty human spirit and the merciless death.Dickinsons poem imagines a contention between death and the human spirit. The dust is a metaphor for the material world that has only limited power when compared to the world of eternity. Dickinson shows death to have a limited scope it can only act within the domain of matter and it can non touch the human spiritDeath is a Dialogue betweenThe Spirit and the Dust.Dissolve says Death The Spirit SirI have another Trust (Dickinson 217)The term trust is very significant, pointing to Dickinsons desire to establish legal opinion in the afterlife. The death of the body is inevitable, but the spirit will triumph over the coarse matter in the end. Trust is opposed in the nigh stanza to doubt. This contrast enhances til now further the idea of the ultimate victory of th e spiritDeath doubts it Argues from the Ground The Spirit turns awayJust laying off for evidenceAn Overcoat of Clay. (Dickinson 217)Death argues from the cornerstone, being therefore nailed d protest in the material world and able to bring only scientific arguments in its own favor, while the spirit proudly produces the ultimate evidence for its triumph it strips off the coat of clay, i.e. the body, and wanders away. According to Thomas W. Ford, this dramatic sequence shows Dickinsons desire to believe in eternity and heaven and to reject the rational, scientific proof The Spirit in the dialogue represents Emily Dickinsons desire to believe in eternity, the Dust represents the observed facts (Ford 126). The battle between the rational and false is plain in these lines.Dickinson twists the argument in favor of the human spirit, letting irrationality show its evidence and denying the validity of the scientific approaches to death. Thomas W. Ford observes that Dickisons attitude t owards death was markedly influenced by her tensioned relationship with religion, especially Puritanism. As the critic notes, Dickinsons inner struggle with ultimate acceptance of religion is obvious in some of her letters and throughout her work Dickinson early in life was seriously worried over being left out of Christs know since she had never personally experienced each form of conversion.Her interest in death was an aspect of a continuing and profound concern over her own salvation (Ford 39). Dickinsons personal struggle with the acceptance of faith and the influence of Puritanical thought are both reflected in her poem. It can be even said that the struggle portrayed in the poem resembles the battle between rational thought and faith, which took place in Dickinsons own mind.Yeats poem Death was published in the verse collection The Winding Stair and Other Poems that appeared in 1933. Yeats is one of the most influential modernists and he is well known for his endeavour to c reate his own mythology in his works. The poem under analysis seems to be severed in two parts. The first part shows mans aeonian struggle with death and his tendency to pile all his hopes and fears around the concept of death. The second part brings the opposite view to light man is also a murderer and he dominates death through his consummate knowledge of its inner workings. The first part of the poem compares the reaction of animals and that of humans in front of deathNor dread nor hope attendA dying animalA man awaits his endDreading and hoping all (Yeats 3)While animals are indifferent to the meaning of death and only react to it as they would to any other natural phenomena, man is constantly tormented by the thought of death. Yeats observes the paradoxical attitude of man in front of death on the one hand, man clings to the thought of death with all his hopes and dreams and, at the same time, he associates death with his greatest and darkest fears. The second part of the poem almost reverses the initial survey on death man is the master of death, through his intimate knowledge of itA great man in his prideConfronting murderous menCasts derision uponSupersession of breathHe knows death to the bone Man has created death. (Yeats 3)The last line of the stanza might seem an overstatement, at first glance. Yeats liberal assertion that man has created death has many different implications. On the one hand, man is able to be a murderer and thus he knows death to the bone. This is not the sole explanation however. The reality of death is obviously a paradox. In his pride, man does not fear death and is even able to deride. Harold Bloom contends that the poem implies death does not embody in fact, as Yeats had also argued in A Vision (Bloom 372). In this sense, the idea proposed by Yeats seems to be very similar to that of Emily Dickinson.However, on a close-set(prenominal) look, the Irish poet entertains a somewhat different view of humanitys relationship wit h death. As a modernist, he sees the resourcefulness of mans original spirit as apt to face death and defeat it. Man proudly ignores biological death not because he knows his soul will go to a Christian heaven afterwards, but because he believes in the impossibility of death. According to Yeats, man does not find salvation in the divinity as such, but in the creative forces that animate everything. The poet explores death from a modernist and aesthetic perspective man is an inventor and a dauntless spirit and for him death does not exist.Thus, Dickinsons and Yeats poems reveal different views of the same theme, each being influenced by the historical context in which he or she created. Both explore death from the point of view of mans contention with biological constraints. However, the poets reach different conclusions Dickinson takes refuge in the idea of salvation while Yeats advocates for mans artistic powers.