Journal Entries for Emily Dickinson’s Poems

1. You Love Me, You Are Sure

Ironical as it may seem, I think the poet says she will find comfort in her lover’s declaration of true love yet she expects that this love will hurt her again. At first, she indicates that she will feel very secure when her lover declares true love to her.  However, in the end part, she suddenly remarks that she might get hurt again.  I think the author is really just saying how fickle minded love can be.

2. I’m Wife, I’ve Finished That

I think the poet just means that it is easier to be finally married than when one is still single.  She must have felt a lot of confusion when she was just either looking for someone to settle with forever.  Maybe, her past relationships with men were rough and depressing. For her, it seems much greater to be a wife just to end the troubles of being single.

3. Wild Nights Wild Nights

I feel that this poem is a very good way to describe the passion of being in your lover’s arms. The author just wants to say that when one is in the middle of love’s passion, total freedom from lies and our pretentious world can be achieved.  One simply forgets borders and limits.

4. Hope Is The Thing With Feathers

I believe that Dickinson just wants to relay that hope is something that exists even in the worst situations.  It is just there waiting to be recognized but most often ignored.  Hope is something that one can own for free yet it does not always present itself so starkly in our lives so it is easy to become cynical…yet it is there just waiting for us to believe.

5. I’m Nobody

The poet seems to find it boring to be popular. Everyone is admiring you but very few of them know who you really are.  Dickinson seems to think that popularity is a terrible cage that can imprison one because every action and breath is closely monitored by the public eye.  She would rather be nobody to escape the dreariness of being a caged somebody.

6. Much Madness Is Divinest Sense

Dickinson seems to imply in this poem that it is easier to be part of a crowd than to contradict it.  Being one in mind is advantageous to the extent that you are considered correct but this might not be morally true.  When one disagrees with the crowd, even if he or she is right, one can expect to be hurt.  Again, the poet just wants to say that it is easier to go with the flow (whether right or wrong principle guides it) rather than drown in its strength.