An Exploration of Death Through Imperfect Structures

Kate Rudkin

Emily Dickinson's Poem #258:

An Exploration of Death through Imperfect Structures

In her Poem #258, Emily Dickinson employs religious and political imagery to discuss personal and universal dilemmas. Words consistently associated with both spirituality and society are used throughout the poem. Through word choice, Dickinson is able to simultaneously discuss her two themes and explore the ways in which they are interrelated. In Poem #258, religious and political figurative language is used to examine the consequences of structure in Dickinson’s life and the lives of humans as a whole. Structure is repeatedly associated with the concept of death and its elusive qualities. By intentionally providing multiple structures through which her poem can be interpreted, Dickinson forms a multifaceted view on death and its various degrees of imperceptibility.

In order to comprehend how Poem #258 can be read and how the various religious and political meanings within Poem #258 come together, one must first examine its individual elements. The religious aspects of the poem are more prominent and make a bold appearance in the figurative language of the first stanza. Dickinson’s references to “a certain Slant of light’ and of “Cathedral Tunes” conjure many church images associated with Christianity. Dickinson continues to use words like “heavenly,” “affliction,” and “death.” She injects her poem with religiously charged words and images in order to establish resounding religious overtones.

While discussion of Poem #258 could be conducted only on its religious figurative language, the closely related political language cannot be ignored. By making political language a necessary part of the religious imagery, Dickinson implies that religion is political. The inevitable connection between the religious and the political shows a greater force at work, feeding the two from the same source. Amazingly, the very same poem that seemed to be discussing Dickinson’s personal struggle to find her elusive faith or status of salvation also discusses British colonialism in North America. In a more abstract fashion, the poem also deals with the repercussions of socialization on an individual’s freedom and on the freedom of humanity. The same words or phrases that were used to discuss religion can be used to discuss a political climate when read in a different context.

In Poem #258, Dickinson approaches and explores the meaning of death from as many angles as the poem has interpretations. Death is approached through various “imperfect” structures, such as religious and political structures and ultimately also the structure of the poem itself. Through limitations on form, Dickinson is able to express the limitations of herself and others in attempting to conceive of the notion and meaning of death. Although Dickinson never makes a direct reference to the act of death, everything within Poem #258 is deathlike. The imperceptibility of death is expressed through the failure of the poem’s various structures, content and actual, to facilitate an understanding of death. In criticizing religion’s and society’s inability to illuminate the elusive topic of death, Dickinson is also demonstrating her inability to forge a clear conception.

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons --
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes --
Heavenly Hurt, it gives us --
We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the Meanings, are --
None may teach it -- Any --
'Tis the Seal Despair --
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air --
When it comes, the Landscape listens --
Shadows -- hold their breath --
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death --