Started Early - Took My Dog, by Emily Dickinson :: essays research papers

Started Early- Took My Dog, by Emily DickinsonSuicide was non a widely discussed topic in the 1800s although, it commonly appe bed as a piece of music in many literary works of that time. The action of killing ones ego is non a classified psychological disorder, besides there are many disorders where suicide is the end result. This is why suicide is a platitude subject within the psychological field in present solar day society. The song "I Started Early- Took My Dog," by Emily Dickinson, can be interpreted as making strange reference to a suicide. Freud says, "Suicide is a rejoinder to loss (real or symbolic), but one in which the soulfulnesss sorrow and insaneness in the face of that loss are not vented but remain unconscious, thus weakening the ego."(Freud p.246). Dickinson uses several elements in her poem to tie this theme such as tone, imagery and rhyme. It is told through the first person point of view of an unknown vocalizer.    &n bspDickinson begins the first line of her poem by writing in iambic tetrameter. In the second line she switches to iambic trimeter and proceeds to alternate between the two. This rhyme scheme proves to be especially effective in complimenting the subject of the poem-- the ocean. When a reader looks at the poem it is easy to see the lines lengthening then shortening, almost in the equivalent fashion that the tide of the ocean flows and ebbs.                    I started Early- Took my Dog                    And visited the sea-                    The Mermaids in the root cellar                    Came out to look at me. (Dickinson 1-4)The waxing and waning action of th e textbook might symbolize the constant cycles of life. The fact that the text recedes then elongates in rhythm make the reader think the speaker of the poem is not sure what steps to take in their life. The speaker might not have convinced him or herself astir(predicate) the suicide attempt. Many suicidal thoughts are stopped short of action and then thought about later. Dickinson writes in this style to show the opposing forces of every situation. Suicide would in all likelihood be the most contemplated decision the narrator has ever had to make.      Through metaphors, the speaker proclaims of her longing to be one with the sea. As she notices The mermaids in the basement,(3) and frigates- in the fastness floor,(5) it seems as though she is associating these particular daydreams with her house. She becomes entranced with these spectacles and starts to contemplate suicide.