English Poem Analysis Lange, Chloe by chloe

Poem

chloe_lange — 2017-01-10 22:57:38 UTC

Safe in their Alabaster Chambers (124)
By Emily Dickinson

Safe in their Alabaster Chambers -
Untouched by Morning -
and untouched by noon -
Sleep the meek members of the Resurrection,
Rafter of Satin and Roof of Stone -

Grand go the Years,
In the Crescent above them -
Worlds scoop their Arcs -
and Firmaments - row -
Diadems - drop -
And Doges surrender -
Soundless as Dots,
On a Disk of Snow.

Poet

chloe_lange — 2017-01-10 23:00:57 UTC

Emily Dickinson 1830–1886
She lived in Amherst, Massachusetts for all of her life. Although she was a hermit, she is now a very famous poet in history who only published eight poems in her lifetime.

Vocab and Allusions

chloe_lange — 2017-01-10 23:06:40 UTC

Vocabulary:

Alabaster- A type of white organic mineral that can be easily carved and looks similar to white marble.

Meek- Humble.

Firmaments- The sky orheavens above Earth.

Diadems- Crowns and jeweled headbands.

Allusions:

I infer that Alabaster Chambers are tombs which are buried into the Earth. Since Alabaster is an expensive mineral, it must be a high ranked Christian who dies. I believe the person is Christian because Emily Dickinson wrote about a 'resurrection' which is from The Bible.

Denotation

chloe_lange — 2017-01-10 23:07:20 UTC

First Stanza:
The person is safe in their alabaster tomb. Untouched by the elements of the morning, noon, and night. The dead is waiting for a resurrection day under their roof of satin and stone.

Second Stanza:
Many years go past and the days go on. Life thrives without them as they are silent in their tomb

Poetic Device #1 The Sounds of Words

chloe_lange — 2017-01-13 00:24:36 UTC

Alliteration:
Repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words placed near each other, usually on the
same or adjacent lines.

Poem Example:
Sleep the meek members of the Resurrection.

Effect On Reader:
Since the 'm' sound is easy to say, I believe the poem brings a calm sense to the reader that the poem is not meant to be dark even though it is about death.

Poetic Device #2 The Meaning of Words

chloe_lange — 2017-01-17 03:55:01 UTC

Euphemism:
An understatement, used to lessen the effect of a statement; substituting something innocuous for something that might be offensive or hurtful.

Poem Example:
Safe in their Alabaster Chambers.

Effect On Reader:
It took me a few minutes to understand that the poem is about death because the first line of the poem did not just say 'safe in their tomb'. This euphemism helped the beginning of the poem not to be so dark and shocking.

Poetic Device #3 Arranging the Words

chloe_lange — 2017-01-17 04:12:48 UTC

Stanza Forms:
The names given to describe the number of lines in a stanzaic unit, such as: couplet (2),
tercet (3), quatrain (4), quintet (5), sestet (6), septet (7), and octave (8)

Poem Example:
Whole poem.

Effect On Reader:
The first stanza is called a quintet because there are only five lines. The second stanza is an octave because there are eight lines in the poem. Since the poem has short stanza forms, I can easily remember it. It also has a deeper meaning since it is so short and easily recognizable.

Connotation

chloe_lange — 2017-01-17 04:23:10 UTC

First Stanza:
Sleeping in their new home, they are not bothered by the ever changing time periods while they're "untouched by morning,
and untouched by noon". They are waiting for new life in their fancy mortal made tomb.

Second Stanza:
Nothing matters except the wait for the heaven "in the crescent above them". Sinful tragedies still pursue the Earth as when they were mortals. They are not important because everyone passes at some point.

Voice

chloe_lange — 2017-01-17 04:28:17 UTC

This poem is written in third person because there is only one pronoun which is used, and it is 'their'. The speaker is taking everyone in account when the poem states "safe in their alabaster chambers". Since this is the first line of the first stanza, it can be inferred that the poem is meant to be in third person narrative. The voice of the poem is interested although calm while talking about death. Since the dead corpses are said to be "soundless as dots, on a disk of snow", the comparative makes it pleasant and easy to read.