Dickinson, away from the British Romantics

British Romantics referred to poems that stay away from reality and had more to do with imagination and emotions. Emily Dickinson seemed to have broken away from such types of poetry or writings. Dickinson seems to be more interested in writing about the things that actually happen rather than the ideas or positive emotions of humans. She does not seem to mentions how life can be beautiful, the nature, or the physical passions of men/women.

In Dickinson’s “39 (49)” she mentions how she was begging to the angles and god but in the end she received nothing and ended up poor like she was before.

“Twice have I stood a beggar
Before the door of God!
….
I am poor once more!”

The poets who wrote romantics usually would have said something like the “the God finally answered” or something of that sort. Dickinson brings out the harsh reality and tells her readers that life and God are not always fair to everyone. In Dickinson’s “359 328),” she starts out by mentioning:

“A Bird, came down the walk-
…
And ate the fellow, raw,”

She describes the bird as being a killer and vicious animal that broke a worm in half, rather than a bird who is softly singing on a tree. In this sentences she tell the readers birds are not just sweet and little but are also living things that do what is best for them only. Emily Dickinson in all her (beginning) poems shows the reader the reality and how bad it can be. Then in “1263 (1129)” she advises not to mention truth in its simplest form because it can hurt others just from hearing it. Dickinson does not write romantics (optimistic view) herself, but advises her readers to stay close to it.

There is no evidence in her poems on why Dickinson goes away from the romantics, but it seems that she wants everyone to know the truth. She stays consistent in the sense that she stays away from optimistic ideas about life. The only time Dickinson comes close to romantics is when she is talks about emotions, although hers examples are usually negative. British Romantics was where one used nothing but his/her imagination, where as Dickinson uses nothing but the possible brutalities of the real world.