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| A Day by Emily Dickinson Summary and Question Answer |
Summary
The poem ‘A Day’ composed by nineteenth century prolific poet Emily Dickinson, a metaphysical poet of England. She wrote more than1800 poems but most of her poems were posthumously published. She became more popular after her death. In this poem Dickinson describes a beautiful day through the use of imageries and symbols. In this poem she has described about the life of person from the birth to death. Metaphorically she shows the growth of children from innocence to experience.
The poet describes about the sun-rise and the sun-set along with the natural phenomenon. After the sun rise a ribbon of rays extend in the world piercing the darkness. The steeple of the church is visible in purple colour and the sun rays travel so fast like how squirrels run. The rays of the sun unveil the hills with their beauties. The sweet singing bird bobolink starts singing sweet and melodious song praising the natural beauty. Then the speaker of the poem realizes that it is the day light that has made all the things of the nature visible.
The speaker of the poem is unsure about how the sunsets. Before the sun set there seems a purple stile step) and everything of the earth are coloured with yellow. The men and women in yellow colour constantly climb up until they reach the other side. The persons reaching the other side are welcomed by the master (Father). He gently leads them to the home.
Critical Analysis of the poem
The poem shows a journey of a person from the birth to death or it is the journey from innocence to experience. The poem is rich in imageries and symbols that help to describe from innocence to experience. The term ‘Day’ is symbolized as the life. The sun rise is symbolized as the birth and the sun set is symbolized as the end of the life, death. As soon as a child is born, his is innocent and doesn’t know about the worldly experiences. After the birth the knowledge of the child extends like the sun rays. Here the ribbon is used as the sun rays. As the knowledge grows constantly, the surroundings appear like the hills are seen with the sun light. The nature is rich and the child captures the beauty of the nature. The child grows to a matured man and reveals his inner understanding through the line, ‘That must have been the Sun!’
The poem shows an uncertainty about the death as no one is sure about it. The death is inevitable but certainty about when it happens is not. Slowly and gradually, the person becomes weak and the weakness is presented through an imagery of yellow colour. The ‘stile’ is symbolized as the ladder to climb the heaven where the persons are welcomed by the heavenly father, the God and leads them to the house of paradise. Therefore, we can say that the poem describes about the journey from the birth to the death.
Reference to the context
a. What is the theme of the poem?
Ans: The main theme of the poem is the journey of life from birth to death. The poem ‘A Day’ metaphorically describes about the birth to death. The sun rise is symbolized as the birth and sun set as the death. After the birth of a child, he gradually unveils the secrets of the world and develops the worldly understanding in him. His innocence develops to an experience and performs his responsibilities. He is uncertain of the death but he thinks it is inevitable. After death, he is welcomed by the heavenly father.
b. What are the literary devices used in the poem?
The poet has used the following literary devices in the poem. They are as follows:
Simile: simile is the device used for comparing two things or objects using the word like or as.
For example: ‘The news like squirrels ran.’
Metaphor: Metaphor is the process of showing a suggested or connotative meaning in a literary text. The comparison is indirectly done.
For e.g.: ribbon as sunrays, dominie in gray as God, flock as people
Symbolism: it is the use of words to represent ideas or things.
For e.g.: day is symbolized as the life, birth is symbolized as the birth and sun set as the death.
Alliteration: It is the repetition of initial consonant sound in a poet line.
For e.g.: ‘The steeples swam in amethyst’. Here the consonant sound /s/ is repeated.
‘The bobolinks begun’. Here the consonant sound /b/ is repeated.
Rhyme: it is the repetition of the final consonant sound in a poetic line.
For e.g.: stile-while, gray- away.
Also Read: The Bull by Bhimnidhi Tiwari | Summary
C. What makes this poem lyrical and sonorous? Discuss.
Answer: The poem “A Day” by Emily Dickenson is both a lyrical and sonorous poem. Emily has used her magic wand to make this poem lyrical and sonorous. She has depicted her own experience of sun rise and sun set in her writing. She has used the personal pronoun ‘I’ to indicate the poet’s persona. It is a lyric; it expresses a powerful thought from the perspective of a single persona. This poem’s musicality is enhanced by the use of sound techniques such as alliteration, assonance, rhyme, and rhythm.
The End
About the Author:
Tanka Bhattarai is a Second class Secondary Level English teacher currently teaching at Shahid Smriti Secondary School, Dharan, Sunsari. He is also an MToT of Education Training Centre, Koshi Province.
