emily dickinson poem

[biisme]

I have an emily dickinson poem I have to analyze.....I worte down some stuff already. If anyone wants to read and tell me if they thought of soemthing that I haven't jotted down?

By the way, if you do offer advice, it CAN'T be from the internet, NO secondary souces....I can only ask other people.

By the way, I think it's a lesbian poem

So bashful when I spied her!
spying on another lady? or perhaps she is seeing herself? recognizing one’s true self? embarrassment of the self? she is passionate about this?
So pretty — so ashamed!
bashful and ashamed…perhaps guilt? guilt of another person, or guilt of herself? maybe she is making the other person feel guilty, or she herself feels guilty…it’s important that this person is ashamed…
So hidden in her leaflets
paper or leaves? maybe religious leaflets? were there a lot of religious leaflets? perhaps hiding behind religion… maybe hiding in the “dingle” mentioned later…nature…maybe just folds in general?
Lest anybody find —again the idea of hiding…is she hiding, or is she watching a girl who is hiding? is she hiding her (suspected) lesbianism? are both she AND the girl hiding?


So breathless till I passed her —is Dickinson breathless? or is it the girl? or both of them? or are they both her? …indicates excitement. she is approaching her…maybe a confrontation? or seduction?
So helpless when I turned
is the girl helpless? or is Dickinson unable to stop herself form turning? is it a compulsion? “turned”…literally turned? or turned as in “changed”?
And bore her struggling, blushing,
was the girl struggling? against Dickinson’s wishes? or was Dickinson struggling to accept herself after she “turned” ? is she blushing because she (the girl or Dickinson) is embarrassed?
Her simple haunts beyond!
bringing her thoughts/obsessions beyond? bringing them to a whole new level? taking them to a further point? is it more than she originally thought? opening her mind? the exclamation point conveys excitement…maybe wonder.


For whom I robbed the Dingle —
she is stealing something from an enclosed area (wooded area or dungeon)… she is setting something free and exposing it…she came out of the “woods” for a certain person perhaps?
For whom betrayed the Dell —dell and dingle traditionally mean the same thing…she is betraying sanctity? or is she betraying a wench? an implied “I” is there… is she betraying herself?
Many, will doubtless ask me,
people are going to ask her for whom she robbed the dingle and betrayed the dell. so, maybe it is another person?
But I shall never tell!
she is going to keep it to herself. pretty straightforward. she is emphatic about it though.


leaflet: small (free) papers…or part of a leaf…associated with folds or folding

haunts:a place much frequented…or something that is continuously there…obsessions in one’s mind…

dingle:traditionally a small wooded valley…connection to “dungeon”…or from the word “dimble”, which came from “dimple”

dell:small wooded valley..or (obscure) a young girl or wench, of low class, or thought to be “wild”…comes from dale (valley)

[Sexiican01]

i didn't notice any of that when i was reading the poem o:

but it makes sense!

[Level N Human]

I've seen this poem before.

Didn't she have a good friend Susan? -_~

I think there are a few letters between them that are quite affectionate, although people did emote and use different words back then so there are disputes on whether or not they were really lovers or anything. Too bad so little is actually known about Dickinson.

[biisme]

sexxican: but i need to figure out if she's talking about herself (in the third person) or about someone else, or if she's doing both at once...

yea, she did have a very good friend and it is suspected she might be a lesbian, i'm just not quite sure (as i said above), who she's talking about

[Sexiican01]

from what i see, it could be all three
D:

bit it could be that she's talking in third person to hide it

that's what i think

[biisme]

maybe...that's interesting...

[Sexiican01]

well you certainly got much more out of it than me

[biisme]

haha....yea, when it counts for a test grade (especially in this class), i manage to find stuff

the only problem is: choosing the RIGHT analysis, b/c in this class there is a RIGHT one lol

[Sexiican01]

so it's already known what it is?
<_>

we have to find this out~

[biisme]

NO!!!!!

there's not a "right" one...but, to my teacher there is...

i CAN'T use secondary sources, beyond other ppl!

no other sources!

[Sexiican01]

yeah i know
i read that part at the top
o:

but maybe word play is in there
(the poem)

[biisme]

i think i'm going to try for a couple different analysises (what is the plural of analysis?) and ask him which one is closest to his idea...

hmmm

[Sexiican01]

i think analyses
pretty sure it's not analysii
xD

if he's nice enough, he'll tell you
and you'll be closer to finding what
he thinks is the right answer

[biisme]

hahaha...yea...but, he doesn't like telling

yea! analyses! that's right! haha

[Sexiican01]

that sounds just like a teacher
Dx

im right~
.-passes cookies to everyone-.

[biisme]

i kno what i'm gonna do!

i'm goin to say that you read the poem once through and realize that dickinson may have been a lesbian and this was a girl she was admiring, and then when you read it again with this in mind you can see how it ALSO refers to dickinson herself!

[Sexiican01]

that's perfect~
then you can use both of your findings

this can't be wrong<2+1

[biisme]

hahaha...

and he tells me i'm wrong, i'm goin to argue that this is how IIIIIIIIIIIII interpreted it

[Sexiican01]

but i dont get it
if there's no right answer

how does he expect you to get one?
D:

[biisme]

we ask him:

what if we miss something do we get points off?

he says:

there are layers of meaning and you need to recognize all the layers. be sure to explain how everything is symbolic and what she was trying to convey

one kid tried to say that's impossible to plan not to miss something, if you miss it, you miss it and there's nothing you can do, but my teacher didn't quite get it.

and he said there can be wrong interpretations, so, I don't kno