HELL IS PUNGENT WITH GUNS

(My Neighbor Calls Gun Owners ‘Beelzeguns,’ 

Says They Call Themselves ‘Gun Nuts’ 

Because Otherwise They Don’t Have Any Balls)

Graphic from Jon Stewart's The Daily Show.

by Ron Riekki


There have been two killed and twenty injured
by gun violence in the U.S. since Parkland.*
The melting pot is melting because of climate
change and the heat of being ambushed by
a blizzard of shrapnel. I taught a course on gun
violence and near the halfway point a student’s

girlfriend was shot and killed on campus. Life
used to stand until a Loaded Gun carried me
away to my graveyard shift where I don’t teach
anymore, sunk into the valley of security,
unarmed security, where I’m paid to stay awake
and at night, in the mountains of dark I remember

a kid telling me during that class that he used to take
his gun and shoot it at the lake at his parents’ camp,
December, Alabama, trying to make the bullets
skip. I asked him if he thought he might have
killed someone by mistake doing that and he told
me, Nah, no one was around for miles. There’ve

been more than two killed, more than twenty injured
now since.* Since. In Detroit, I remember a moment
on the street where someone commented on
another person’s visible bullet-hole scar.  He
lifted up his shirt to reveal more and then a bunch
of those nearby started sharing their bullet holes,

pant legs rolled up, shirts off, the drinking
of wounds. In Virginia, I delivered a Feast Pizza
to a trailer where the guy sat on his historical sofa
holding an old shotgun pointed at my college chest.
I asked what the hell he was doing and he said,
I just wanted to see your reaction. His girl-

friend told him to put the gun down,
but he didn’t. When I got back to the Dominos,
one of the other drivers asked, Did he do it to you?
He likes to do that to everyone who delivers there.
A cop told me about a kid who got shot in the eye
and the bullet ricocheted and came out the other eye.

During EMT class, the instructor asked if any
of us had been shot and one of the students
raised his hand; he’d shot himself by mistake,
cleaning his gun. The instructor told us a story
of how he got shot by a kid when he was doing CPR
on a rival gang member that they didn’t want saved.

By a kid, I mean a child. By a child, I mean that we
are drowning in the shallow end. After school shootings,
gun sales go up. I mean, throw up. As in puke. “It’s too
soon to talk about gun control.”  Hell, it’s too late.
Graffiti by my apartment says, What You Rape
Is What You Sewer with an AR-15 policed underneath,

plastered to the wall, pulverized to the wall in onyx
paint. Two times in my life, when talking about gun
control, I’ve had a person reach over and pull a gun out
of nowhere. Anti-magic. One was under a couch.
Another in a purse. As if guns were cigarettes.
As if guns were TV channels. As if the guy who lived

across from me in Chicago wasn’t shot and killed
in his apartment. My favorite superheroes never
use a gun. That’s for villains. Batarangs and bat-darts—
sure, but I always prefer those who simply outsmart, whose
sheer intelligence comes out. The opposite of those
who cure guns with guns, who stop choking by choking

more. The king of choking. We elected the king
of choking. Chos—a Persian word for fart.  The NRA chos-
king. A rump . . . Real hunters use bow-and-arrow. They bow
before the flesh and honor the animal by using every
body part, not sitting next to an elephant, leaning
against its belly with the gun in his crotch. Cowards.


*Accurate as of February 21, 2018. The numbers have enlarged since then.


Ron Riekki wrote U.P.: a novel (Great Michigan Read nominated) and edited The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works (2014 Michigan Notable Book), Here: Women Writing on Michigan's Upper Peninsula (2016 Independent Publisher Book Award), and And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917-2017 (Michigan State University Press, 2017).

"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas: Translation, Summary, and Analysis

Title: "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"
Author: Dylan Thomas
Published: 1952
Theme(s): A celebration of the human spirit

Poem in a nutshell: "Don't go down without a fight!"

Braveheart battle scene

Original Text	Modern English Translation
Do not go gentle into that good night, (a) Old age should burn and rave close at day; (b) Rage, rage against the dying of the light (a)	Don’t give in without a fight, Old people on their deathbed should resist, Fight, fight against death.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,(a) Because their words had forked no lightning they(b) Do not got go gentle into that good night. (a)	Though wise men know that death is inevitable, Because their life’s work have not left the significant impact that they desired, they do not accept death.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.	Good men, as they approach death, lament at how great their deeds could have been if they had lived longer, and thus they resist death.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night.	Adventurous, bold men, who captured the world around them only to later realize that the world they loved was slowly dissolving, they fight against the concept of death.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light,	Serious men, dying, realize that even old, blind men have a say in how they die, so they refuse to submit complacently to death.
And you, my father, there on the sad height, (a) Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.(b) Do not go gentle into that good night. (a) Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (a)	And you, my father, on the brink of death, Cry now, passionately, for it will be both a blessing and a curse to me, and I beg you do not submit to death--fight, fight against it.

Note about the author of the poem:

Dylan Thomas wrote this poem in May 1951 during his father's last days, who was suffering for a painful and prolonged illness.

Summary:

In essence, the speaker of the poem suggests that people, at the end of their days, should resist death as much as they possibly can. Even though death is an inevitable part of life, the speaker even goes so far as to argue that old people should leave this world like a warrior, battling against death and furious that they must die. For, even if death is inevitable, people still have a say in how they die: with dignity and defiance.

• Stanza One:
• The speaker states that everyone should resist death and that old people should go out of this world kicking and screaming.
• Stanza Two:
• The speaker gets into specifics. He argues that even though the cleverest of men know the simple truth that death is imminent, they will resist the notion, wanting to live a little longer in order to complete their research and impart their knowledge. (They want to know that their life's work had a significant impact, that it had meaning).
• Stanza Three:
• Good men will resist death, reasoning that if they had more time on Earth, they could do bigger, better deeds.
• Stanza Four:
• Bold men, who had many adventures in life, will resist death by nature. They are not ready to give up their life of epic discovery.
• Stanza Five:
• Old men--serious, blind, and near death--will not submit willingly to death, knowing that, even on their death bed, they have the power to decide how they can die.
• Stanza Six: 
• The speaker, an extension of Thomas, begs his father not to give into to death--to keep fighting and go out like a warrior: defiant, heroic, and dignified.

Analysis:

• Dylan Thomas's poem is a villanelle:
• Villanelle was a form of Italian part-song, originating from Naples in the 16th century.
• In poetry, it is a 19 line poem consisting of five tercets (five stanzas of three lines) and one quatrain (one stanza of four lines), with the first and third lines of the opening tercet recurring alternatively at the end of the other tercets and with both repeated at the close of the concluding quatrain. 
• So, we see that the the lines "Do not go gentle into that good night" (the first line of the first tercet) and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (seen as the last line of the first tercet) are repeated throughout the poem. (**See above for the pattern).
• The poem has a distinct form and rhyme scheme:
• Villanelle
• aba (for the five tercets) , abaa (for the last quatrain) **see poem above
• Imagery:
• Stanza two has imagery of failure.
• Stanzas three and four's imagery suggest that humans are fallible.
• Stanza five and six, as previously stated above, indicate that there may not be much choice in death, but there is the choice to fight and there is something innately heroic about facing death with a sense of dignity.

For more information on this poem, please visit the following links:

Schmoop

Schmoop has a wealth of information on the poem and clearly presents the reasons why "Do Not Go Gentle" is a prime example of a villanelle!

Mother's Day Sonnet

"Sonnet to My Mother"

Title: "Sonnet to My Mother"
Author: Edgar Allen Poe
Published: Boston, MA
Publish Date: July 7th, 1849
Poem in a nutshell: "You were the best mother-in-law ever"

Because I feel that, in the heavens above, 

    The angels, whispering to one another, 

Can find, among their burning terms of love, 

    None so devotional as that of 'mother' — 

Therefore by that sweet name I long have called you — 

    You, who are more than mother unto me, 

And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you, 

    In setting my Virginia's spirit free. 

My mother — my own mother — who died early — 

    Was but the mother of myself; but you 

Are mother to the one I loved so dearly, 

    And thus are dearer than the mother I knew;

By that infinity with which my wife 

Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life.

For more information on this poem, please visit:

http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poef012.htm

http://www.eapoe.org/works/poems/tomthra.htm

Edgar Allan Poe/The Raven coffee mug (Google Affiliate Ad)

I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died: Translation and Analysis

"I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died"

Author: Emily Dickinson

Written: 1863

Published by: Emily's sister in 1896 (after Emily Dickinson died).

Poem in a nutshell: "The Devil dragged my ass to Hell"

Original Text

Modern Translation

I heard a Fly buzz—when I died— The Stillness in the Room Was like the Stillness in the Air— Between the Heaves of Storm— The Eyes around—had wrung them dry— And Breaths were gathering firm For that last Onset—when the King Be witnessed—in the Room— I willed my Keepsakes—Signed away What portions of me be Assignable—and then it was There interposed a Fly— With Blue—uncertain—stumbling Buzz— Between the light—and me— And then the Windows failed—and then I could not see to see—

I heard a fly buzzing when I died and the silence in the room was like the silence that you hear during the “in-between” breaths people take when they are crying. People cried until they couldn't anymore and were catching their breath when I saw the Devil. I had willed everything away—at least what I could—when a fly came into the room. Blue and buzzing, it got in the way between Heaven and me, and then my eyes closed and I could not see.

Poem Summary: Original Text

In the first stanza, the narrator states that she heard a fly buzzing when she died. (Pretty straight-forward). She then describes the stillness or silence in the room to be comparable to the tension in a room filled with mourners. The pause between the drawing of breath emulates this stillness/silence.

In the second stanza, the narrator states that the mourners have cried until their eyes have become dry (they can't cry anymore) and they are regaining their composure. This is when the narrator, dying but not dead, sees the King aka Beezlebub aka the Devil (I'll explain this later).

In the third stanza, the narrator says that she has willed everything away when a fly comes buzzing into the room.

The final stanza describes how the fly (aka the Devil) comes for the narrator as she dies.

Analysis:

• In order to understand why the "King" in line 7 is the Devil and not God, you must first understand the significance of the fly.
• The fly is significant in the poem because, generally speaking, flies eat rotten/dead meat and the narrator will soon be dead.
• From a Biblical lens, the King of Flies was Beezlebub, a demon who was often associated with the Devil or as the Devil. 
• So, when the line reads "And then the Windows failed..." this is a reference to the Window to Heaven/ the Gate to Heaven. As the narrator dies and her eyes (windows to the soul) close, she becomes shut out of Heaven as the Devil takes her soul to Hell.
• Another important aspect of the poem is Onomatopoeia
• Dickinson creates the effect of a fly buzzing--the thrumming "b" and "zzz" sound--by using words like: buzz, eyes, blue, heaves

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Shakespeare's Sonnet 130: Translation

Author: William Shakespeare aka "The Bard"

Written: Between 1564 C.E and 1609 C.E.

Published by: Thomas Thorpe, 1609 C.E.

Poem in a nutshell: "You're a Plain Jane and I love you all the same."

Original Text

Modern Day Translation

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

My lover's eyes aren't as bright as the sun; And her lips aren't as red as coral; Her breasts are a brownish gray in comparison to pure white snow. If hairs are like wires, hers are black and not golden. Her cheeks are not as colorful as the red and white streaked damask roses; And my lover's breath stinks. I like when she speaks but, let's face it, music is more pleasing to the ear than her voice. I don't claim that my lover is a goddess--she's just a plain old regular mortal. And yet, for all the things that she is not, I find that the love I have for my woman is far more true than those lies found in ridiculous poetry.

Poetry Terms to Know

Parataxis 

a series of phrases that aren't connected by the syntactic elements that preserve grammar. Basically, it is a piling up of phrases without the usage of the following connectives: "and," "or," "but."


Hypotaxis

the opposite of parataxis. A series of phrases with conjunctions. A normal paragraph or compound sentence.

Verbs

• Transitive - These verbs take an object.  "I kicked (verb) the ball (object).

• Intransitive - These verbs do not need an object; they do take on a subject. "I (subject) grow (verb).

Speech Act

A speech act performs or accomplishes something through the use of language. For example, the phrase "I do" literally completes a marriage ceremony.

Meter

-  Definition: measured rhythm with is indicated through a number of syllables and the organization of stress in speech.

- 5 types of feet:

• iamb -  unstressed syllable, stressed syllable (Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?)

• troche - stressed syllable, unstressed syllable (Tiger)

• anapest - unstressed syllable, unstressed syllable, stressed syllable. (Understand?)

• dactyl - stressed syllable, unstressed syllable, unstessed syllable. (strawberry)

• spondee - stressed syllable, stressed syllable. (football , heartbreak)

- Types of meter

• dimeter - 4 syllables in a line. (2 feet). 

• trimeter -  6 syllables in a line. ( 3 feet).

.

• tetrameter - 8 syllables in a line. (4 feet).

• pentameter - 10 syllables in a line. (5 feet).
• "Shall I / compare / thee to/ a su/ mmer's day?" (This line contains ten syllables. Because the predominant pulse is "unstressed, stressed," the feet is iamb. This makes the line iambic pentameter. * One foot =  2 syllables.)

• hexameter - 12 syllables in a line. (6 feet).

Caesura

A caesura is a pause within a line. This is designated by a period, comma, question mark or exclamation mark.

Example:

O,ll wind,

if winter comes,ll can spring be far behind?

When marking or labeling a line of poetry, we use a double "el" or ll.

Masculine Ending vs. Feminine Ending

Masculine ending - a line ends in a stressed syllable.

Feminine ending - a line ends in an unstressed syllable.

Masculine Rhyme vs. Feminine Rhyme

Masculine Rhyme - line of poetry ends in one syllable. (i.e. "head")

Feminine Rhyme - line of poetry ends in two syllables. (i.e. "painted")

Catalectic ending

A metrically incomplete line of verse, lacking a syllable at the end or an incomplete foot. (Remember that 1 foot = 2 syllables, so the line of a poem would have an odd number of syllables).

Example:

"Tyger! Tyger! burning bright " (unstressed syllable missing after "bright")

Notice that there are only seven syllables in this line. We call this a catalectic ending. (We would round up the syllables to eight, making the meter: trochaic tetrameter.)

Promotion

When a syllable that is normally unstressed is stressed for meter. 

Here are two lines taken from "The Tyger" by William Blake in example:

"What immortal hand or eye 

Could frame thy fearful *symmetry?" 

Usually, the word "symmetry" would be a dactyl (stressed, unstressed, unstressed) like symmetry. But for the poem, the author emphasizes the "try" to go with the flow of the poem. This is like when a person with an accent stresses certain parts of a word than others; it's noticeable but not unusual.

Wrenched Accent

When you drastically change a word due to its pronunciation to go with the flow of a poem. 

For example: in the word "body" the stress falls on the first syllable. In the following poem, you might be inclined to put the stress on the last syllable, making it sound awkward.

"And many's the good gift, Lord Sands,

You've promised oft to me;

But the gift of yours I keep today,

Is the babe in my body."

(Nobody says "body" like that, but it is done for effect in the poem)

Rhyme

• End rhyme - when words rhyme at the end of two or more verses.

                              Never was there a tale of more woe

                              Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

• Internal rhyme - When two or more words rhyme within a line of verse.

                                I lost my dog within a fog.

• Perfect  rhyme - when the words at the end of two or more lines of verse rhyme perfectly. 

                              Never was there a tale of more woe

                              Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. (*"woe" and "Romeo" are exact rhyme)

• Slant rhyme - when the words at the end of two or more line of verse sort of rhyme. (For example, the words "roaming" and "coming" are close in speech but not exact.)

• Site rhyme or eye rhyme - When two words look like they would rhyme. (i.e. behind and wind [as in a breeze])

Stanza

• Definition - a poetic paragraph

• Can be regular (such as three sets of 4 line stanzas) or irregular (four sets of paragraphs containing various lines).

• Common types of stanzas:

• two lines : a couplet
• three lines : a tercet
• four lines : a quatrain

• Ballad Stanza - a quatrain that alternates between four and three line stresses. The rhyme pattern (end rhyme) is a, b, c, d.

•   Example:

                                        All in a hot and copper sky!  (four feet = eight syllables)

                                       The bloody Sun, at noon,     (three feet = six syllables)

                                       Right up above the mast did stand,   (four feet = eight syllables)

                                       No bigger than the Moon.    (three feet = six syllables)

Common Meter (Stanza) - a quatrain alternating between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. The rhyme pattern is a, b, a, b.

Modes of Poetry

Lyric - Poetry that expresses personal or emotional feelings. It does not portray a story or characters. (i.e. Emily Dickinson's Dying: http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/31-lyric-poetry.htm )

Elegy - A poem of serious reflection, typically a lament to the dead. (i.e. "Elegy for Jane" or "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/18-elegy.htm )

Ode - A lyric poem in the form of address to a particular subject. Usually written in elevated style and set structure. (i.e. "Ode to a Nightingale" http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/34-odes.htm )

Narrative - Poetry that has plot. (i.e. Homer's The Iliad.)

Allegory - A narrative poem having a second meaning behind the surface one. The poem has a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. 

Forms of Poetry

Sonnet - a fourteen line poem (usually in iambic pentameter.) Two types: Italian and English.

Villanelle - a nineteen line poem consisting of five tercets and a quatrain. The first and third lines of the first tercet recur alternately at the end of each subsequent tercet and both together at the end of the quatrain. (i.e. "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night : http://www.webexhibits.org/poetry/explore_classic_villanelle_examples.html )

Sestina - A poem of six stanzas with six lines and a final triplet. The end words of the first stanza are repeated are repeated in varying combinations in the following stanzas. 

 For example (excerpt from a longer poem by Ezra Pound): 

Damn it all! all this our South stinks peace. 
You whoreson dog, Papiols, come! Let's to music! 
I have no life save when the swords clash. 
But ah! when I see the standards gold, vair, purple, opposing
And the broad fields beneath them turn crimson, 
Then howl I my heart nigh mad with rejoicing. 


In hot summer have I great rejoicing
When the tempests kill the earth's foul peace, 
And the lightnings from black heav'n flash crimson, 
And the fierce thunders roar me their music
And the winds shriek through the clouds mad, opposing, 
And through all the riven skies God's swords clash.

Figures of Speech

• Rhetorical figures

• alliteration - two or more words in close proximity begin with the same sound. (example: He's one cool cat).
• assonance - two or more words in close proximity contain the same vowel sounds.(example: He's one cool dude).
• consonance - two or more words in close proximity that end in the same sound. (example: He struck a streak of bad luck).
• onomatopoeia - The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named. The word tries to imitate the sound. (example: "boom" "sizzle" "cuckoo")
• apostrophe - An address to an absent person or an abstract element. (example: "o, wind!" or "O western wind, when wilt thou blow/ That the small rain down can rain?")
• pun - A play on words by exploiting the different possible meanings of a word. (example: "Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight" [grave here means "serious" but also hints to those who are marked for death.]).

• Tropes

• metaphor - comparison between two seemingly unlike things that have something important in common. (example: He was a lion in battle).
• simile - comparison between two unlike things using the words "like" or "as." (example: Her eyes are like diamonds.)
• metonymy - An idea or word is substituted with a concept closely associated with it. (example: We use the term "Hollywood" when referring to the U.S. cinema industry.)
• synecdoche - Parts of something represent a whole. (example: "All hands on deck." 
• personification - Giving inanimate objects human-like qualities. (example: "The leaves danced in the wind.")

Here are some great websites to help you on your poetry exam:

http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_R.html

http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Examples%20of%20Iambs.pdf

If You Were Coming in the Fall: Translation & Summary

"If You Were Coming in the Fall"

Author: Emily Dickinson

Written: Between 1860 and 1866 CE

Published by: It was not until 1955 CE that all of Dickinson's work was published in one collection.

What is the poem about? Love, separation, anxiety, doubt, and dread. The poem explores how the absence of a loved one can take a psychological toll on someone.

Tone: Uncertainty, doubt, anxiety, distress, yearning/longing

Poem in a nutshell: "I don't care how long you will be gone, as long as you will return to me and we can be together forever."

Melancholy lady awaiting her the return of her lover.

Original Text	Modern Day Translation
If you were coming in the Fall, I'd brush the Summer by With half a smile, and half a spurn, As Housewives do, a Fly.	If you were coming back to me in the Fall, I'd go through Summer happy, with a smile on my face like when a housewife kills a fly.
If I could see you in a year, I'd wind the months in balls -- And put them each in separate Drawers, For fear the numbers fuse --	If you were to return to me in a year, I'd compartmentalize the months into smaller units like balls of yarn and place them each I separate draws, in fear that the our time apart would somehow become larger.
If only Centuries, delayed, I'd count them on my Hand, Subtracting, till my fingers dropped Into Van Dieman's Land.	If you were coming back to me in a matter of centuries, I'd count the centuries on the fingers, subtracting them one by one until they all fall to Tasmania (or Australia).
If certain, when this life was out -- That yours and mine, should be I'd toss it yonder, like a Rind, And take Eternity --	If I were certain that we could be together in death, I'd take my own life.
But, now, uncertain of the length Of this, that is between, It goads me, like the Goblin Bee -- That will not state -- its sting.	But, as I'm not sure of when you will come back to me, the doubt of your return taunts and hurts me like the sting of a bee.

Poem Summary

The poem is about a woman in distress as she awaits the return of her lover. As her lover's absence increases, so does the woman's doubt increase. She contemplates suicide, briefly, but brushes it aside when she realizes that her reunion with her lover can never be certain.

Break Down by Stanza

 

STANZA ONE

The speaker dismisses the importance of how long her lover may be absent by trivializing it. She brushes off his absence for the duration of summer as a housewife would shoo away or kill a fly.

STANZA TWO

The speaker breaks down time to be more manageable. A year is reduced to months—a smaller unit—and those are compared to balls of yarn to be stored separately. Storing them separately is like counting off individual units, making them more manageable and giving her a sense of control.

STANZA THREE

She minimizes the length of a century by using the word “only” with it. Also, she uses her fingers instead of balls of yarn as another way to handle time in smaller, more manageable units. She calls his absence “delayed,” implying he will eventually return. The reference to Van Diemen's Land indicates someplace far away. It is the old name for Tasmania.

STANZA FOUR

The fourth stanza introduces the concept of eternity/timelessness. She would willingly die if her reunion with her beloved was certain. She compares her mortal life to a rind. As a rind is the skin that protects the fruit, so does her body protect or encase her spirit/soul—the essence which would continue after death. 

STANZA FIVE

The previous stanzas were hypothetical—indicated by the word “if” in the beginning of each line. In this stanza, the speaker is in the present. She deals with her reality which is frightening. She calls time “uncertain” because she doesn't know what it is or what is is going to bring (in regard to her and her lover) in the future. 

Her ignorance or unawareness concerning time “goads” her. She claims that a bee threatens with it's sting but time's threat is even greater because it is unstated. It leaves her in uncertainty, doubt, and distress. The degree of threat which time presents is suggested by the word “goblin,” implying a sense of mischief or evil.

Important Notes 

•  Four of the stanzas begin with "if," indicating uncertainty.

 

• We assume that the speaker is a woman due to domestic metaphors, such as the housewife and fly as well as the balls of yarn.

 

• The time of absence in regard to the speakers lover becomes larger as the poem progresses: FALL --> YEAR ---> CENTURIES ---> ETERNITY. As a result, the speaker's doubt increases progressively from brushing it off to thinking that she might possibly never see her beloved again.

• In the fourth stanza, there is a tension and irony in the juxtaposition of "If" and "certain." 

• Dickinson varies the poem to avoid a metronomic effect. She uses enjambment and punctuation (the dashes) to achieve this. 

Need More Help or Information?

Here are two VERY helpful websites for those of you who are looking for a bit more information or need a little extra help in deciphering the poem:

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/fall.html 

http://www.eliteskills.com/c/4608  (Look to the comments section for help/info).

What is your take on the poem?