The last Night that She lived

Transcription

1 The last Night that She lived

2 In Pairs (5 mins) Decide on one person to read the poem aloud What are your initial impressions of this poem? - What is the poem about? - What feelings does the poem evoke? EXT: What ideas/concepts can you see within this poem that have arisen in Dickinson s other poems?

3 Emily Dickinson Lexicon regulate (-s), v. [Late L. rēgula, rule, straight stick, bar, ruler, pattern.] Control; pilot; steer; keep constant; preserve in working order; hold steady. Adjust; calibrate; attune; accustom; [fig.] reassess; reexamine; review; reevaluate; ponder; consider; scrutinize.

4 Summary The speaker recounts the experience of being present at the death of a friend or loved one. She recounts the emotional responses of those present and then describes the dignified death of the woman. The poem concludes with the ritual preparing of the head and hair for the coffin, and the speaker describes a dreadful feeling of absence and the inability to do any more to help, now that the woman has passed on.

5 The last Night that She lived 1100 The last Night that She lived It was a Common Night Except the Dying this to Us Made Nature different We noticed smallest things Things overlooked before By this great light upon our Minds Italicized as 'twere. As We went out and in Between Her final Room And Rooms where Those to be alive Tomorrow were, a Blame We waited while She passed It was a narrow time Too jostled were Our Souls to speak At length the notice came. She mentioned, and forgot Then lightly as a Reed Bent to the Water, struggled scarce Consented, and was dead And We We placed the Hair And drew the Head erect And then an awful leisure was Belief to regulate That Others could exist While She must finish quite A Jealousy for Her arose So nearly infinite

6 Interrogating the Poem (10 mins) Each pair to take responsibility for looking for one of the following within the poem and to consider how it relates to the ideas we have discussed already. Be ready to feedback and annotate! a. Rhythm and rhyme- consider the uses of dashes, enjambment, slant rhyme etc. b. The use, and significance, of imagery connected to nature c. Structure- consider time, order, repetition, syntax etc d. Reference to life and the after-life and the journey between them

7 Helen Vendler Class Discussion the dying woman is not jostled by a superior force; she has simply consented, after her brief struggle. The poem is not chiefly about her dying. It is about our surviving. 1. To what extent do you agree that this is a poem about those who are left behind rather than the person who has died? 2. Could the jealousy felt in the poem in fact reflect jealousy of the woman s death, her release? Look for lines from the poem to support your opinion

8 Helen Vendler Class Discussion The happy death envisaged by (John) Donne exists, in the Christian mind, against the contrastive backdrop of those who die in sin, who pass away not mildly but horribly, who protest (like Marlowe s Faustus) with their dying breath. With her last breath, Dickinson s dying woman takes possession of the moment of death by consenting voluntarily to it, after her brief and unobtrusive struggle. Does this change our understanding of the death within the poem?

9 THINK! (5 mins) What do you think is the most important word or phrase within this poem? Drag your word into the circle and justify your choice! Nature She Consented Our Souls great light upon our minds Belief Jealousy Blame

10 Faith (20 mins) 1. Is there any sense in which both the speaker and the mourners feel a sense of rebellion towards God because of what is happening? Which line suggests this? 2. What about the last two lines could lead us to believe that the experience has caused the speaker to doubt her faith? WRITTEN EXTENSION: What do you think is the nature of Dickinson s faith within this poem?

11 Homework Read Helen Vendler s commentary in full, highlighting key aspects