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Emily Dickinson & Maya Angelou Essay Q. Analyse the presentation of human suffering in the poetry of Maya Angelou & Emily Dickinson. Many of Emily Dickinson's poems touch on topics dealing with loss and human suffering. While loss and suffering is generally considered a sad or unfortunate thing, Dickinson uses this theme to explain and promote the positive aspects of absence. Throughout many of her poems, one can see clearly that see is an advocate of respecting and accepting the state of being without.
Dickinson implies that through these types of losses, one can gain a richer and stronger appreciation for both success and belongings. Poems 2 and 1036 are two that capture the extent of Dickinson's feelings on loss. By understanding and comparing these two works, it is easy to recognise that Dickinson believes that possessing neither material possessions nor the joy of success are the real keys to happiness. Poem 2 focuses on a battle that could be considered either literal in the sense of war, or more symbolic as it could act as the anthem for any type of loss or failure.
Lines 1 and 2 of the poem explain that success or winning is most valued by those who never prevail. Dickinson is saying that loss creates the strongest appreciation for a win. The lines 3 and 4 state: To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need. This implies that necessity is the only way in which to understand what you want. Next, in the second stanza, Dickinson uses words that denote an actual battle has taken place by saying: Not one of all the purple host Who took the flag today Can tell the definition So clear of Victory She is suggesting that winners cannot value their victory. The final stanza emphasizes that fact the defeated group understands the meaning of victory when she says that: The distant strains of triumph Burst agonized and clear.
Dickinson describes the dying soldiers comprehending the meaning of winning the battle in a way that the victors never will. The reason that the winners can't understand the significance of their victory is that they did not taste defeat. The loss of a battle demonstrates to the unsuccessful how far they are from feeling the enumeration of success. Poem 2, as in line with Dickinson's theme of human suffering, suggests that being in a losing state, at least sometimes, is better than winning all the time. The deflated feeling of being unsuccessful increases the state of appreciation one has for winning. In poem 1036, Dickinson remains consistent in her theme of loss but takes an approach that is more appropriate for everyday life.
She claims that one is happier and more contented when they are in a state of want. To Dickinson, it is the moment before one receives what one wants that are the most fulfilling. The anticipation of obtaining the objects of desire, such as victory in poem 2, creates an appreciation for the object that is lost upon possession. In the first stanza of 1036, Dickinson states that: Satisfaction - is the agent Of Satiety - Want - a quiet Commissary For Infinity She implies here that being excessively full is a short-lived feeling. This satisfaction inhibits one's motivation...
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Research essay sample on Maya Angelou Emily Dickinson
