Dickinson and death

I thought that "I like a look of agony" was rather cynical and a bit morbid. Dickinson claims that agony is the only state that cannot be faked. This highlights a general mistrust of people and suggests that Dickinson is wary of people being fake. The second stanza describes death as the ultimate truth; death happens once and it cannot be faked. 

"This World is not conclusion," although also focused on death, is not as morbid as "I like a look of agony." "This world is not conclusion" focuses on the afterlife aspect of death. The first line clearly states the message of the poem: this world is not conclusion because there is an afterlife. Dickinson goes on to discuss the debate regarding whether or not there is an afterlife; she addresses both scholars and religious people. It's interesting that Dickinson chooses to spend time talking about the debate regarding the afterlife rather than describing what she imagines it would be. The poem could have contained beautiful imagery about the possibility of an afterlife but instead, Dickinson chooses to address the argument over its existence. I think that Dickinson uses this poem as an end to the argument. The only line with a period is the first; it's Dickinson's way of marking the line "this world is not conclusion" as absolute. 

In another morbid poem, "I heard a fly buzz," Dickinson again addresses death. This time, she describes the room in which the narrator of the poem dies. I thought this poem was strange. The narrator describes this eerie stillness in the room, "like the stillness in the air - between the heaves of storm," and the sound of a fly buzzing in the room. Dickinson seems to be imagining what a person would sense in their dying moments. 

I liked "Much Madness is Divinest Sense" the most out of this selection; I found the message the most relevant to myself. Dickinson says that what is often considered madness is usually what makes the most sense because what is commonly considered sane is what the majority thinks is right. She says that if you agree with the majority, you're considered sane but if you dissent, you're considered dangerous and crazy. This holds some truth today. People who are different can be celebrated or stigmatized; it is usually the latter case. Once standards have been set by a society, it can be difficult to change them but our standards of normality do change over time. All it really takes for a standard to change is for the majority's opinion to change. 

Overall, the impression I got from this short selection of poetry is that Dickinson was focused on themes of death. These poems weren't as uplifting as the Whitman poems we read before.