|
The
Sky is Low
by Emily Dickinson
interpreted by Beant Gill
The
Sky is low -- the Clouds are mean.
A
Traveling Flake of Snow
Across
a Barn or through a Rut
Debates
if it will go--
A
narrow Wind complains all Day
How
some one treated him.
Nature,
like Us is sometimes caught
Without
her Diadem.
Poet: Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 in
Amherst, Massachusetts. Her father was a famous lawyer and representative
for the congress for a year. As she grew older, she attended Amherst Academy.
She traveled a few times to D.C. and Boston, but usually stayed at home.
Some believe she was very separated from society, but she actually was
extremely social even though she stayed at home a lot. After a lifetime
at home, Dickinson died in 1886. She only had 10 published poems then,
but after her death, over 2,000 of her poems were published.
Vocabulary: Diadem - crown
Type of poem: Lyrical
Speaker: The author, Emily Dickinson
Audience: The reader
Tone: Very sad, dull
Meaning: - This meaning has a deep and shallow point. Most
people feel this poem is just Emily Dickinson explaining the weather outside
in verse. Others feel the author is trying to show that nature is just
like a human. Nature has its good and bad days. She explains that nature
has ways of "traveling," such as a snowflake debating if it
goes one direction or another. If it complains, there is a "narrow
wind." But she sums the poem up by saying nature can have its bad
days.
Structure of poem: Traditional Verse
-
4 lines per stanza with two equal stanzas
-
The rhyme scheme is abcb defe
-
Iambic with six feet per line and eight feet per line (alternating 6,8,6,8)
Examples of poetic techniques used in the poem:
| "Clouds
are mean" |
Personification |
"How
some one treated him."
|
End-Stopped
Line |
"Nature,
like Us is sometimes caughtWithout her Diadem."
|
IRun-On
Line |
"Wind
complains"
|
Personification |
"Snow/
Across a Barn or through a RutDebates if it will go"
|
Personification |
Connection between the poem and the poet's life and/or
times: Emily Dickinson was very lonely at home and probably
had her bad days.
She may have seen a gloomy day outside and felt nature felt just like
her. This
poem relates her life alone to the complaining wind or the lost snowflake.
Most memorable quote from the poem: "Nature, like Us is
sometimes caught/ Without her Diadem."
© Smelli Notes 2001
|
