There's+a+Certain+Slant+of+Light

There's a Certain Slant of Light

There's a certain slant of light, On winter afternoons, That oppresses, like the weight Of cathedral tunes. Heavenly hurt it gives us; We can find no scar, But internal difference Where the meanings are.

None may teach it anything, '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, 't is like the distance On the look of death. []



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= Sound devices: = -Consonance: There's a certain slan**t** of ligh**t** (first stanza, first line) -Alliteration: **H**eavenly **h**urt it gives us ( second stanza, first line) = Figurative devices: = -Simile:That oppresses, **like** the weight Of cathedral tunes. (first stanza, third and fourth line) - personification: When it comes, **the landscape listens,** = Explication = In Emily Dickinson’s “There’s a Certain Slant of light” the speaker is in the midst of an internal conflict. The speaker is experiencing a feeling of pain and despair. The author’s use of paradox and hyperbole creates a very strong feeling of the sorrow and pain that the speaker is afflicted by. The poem is a very abstract description of the internal abuse that the speaker is experiencing.
 * Shadows hold their breath ** (fourth stanza, first and second line)

Dickinson starts out by portraying the setting of a Winter Afternoon. As the poem progresses the speaker begins to experience a sharp pain of “Heavenly Hurt” (5). As the pain is described, the poem gives hints that the pain is internal. The author truly depicts the power of the pain by ending the poem by saying that even the attention of landscapes and shadows are caught by it. As seen in the poem, the speaker says “When it comes, the landscape listens, Shadows hold their breath” (13, 14).

“There’s a certain Slant of light” is a poem consisting of sixteen lines and four stanzas. In the poem, there is a specific rhyme scheme of abcbabcbabcbabcb. By only rhyming two words in each stanza, the speaker stresses the words that are rhymed. For example, in the third stanza the words Despair and Air were clearly stressed to depict the contrast in that stanza. The words Despair and Air are a form of paradox that is contrasting a strong gloomy feeling with a light and happy feeling. The poem also contains a change in mood. As the poem begins with a peaceful “Winter Afternoon” it later changes into a gloomy and sullen mood (2). By ending the poem with a powerful feeling also creates a sense of strength and greatness of the suffering experienced. When the speaker says that when the pain comes “Shadows hold their breath” gives an idea of the intensity of the pain (14). Also the speaker also contrasts the words Breath and Death in the last stanza. The strong contrast of these words intensifies the pain that the speaker is experiencing.

 The swiftness of the change in mood and the strong depictions of the pain is what truly capture the attention of the reader. Dickinson uses the sense of abstractness to describe the pain that the speaker is feeling. Overall, the poem portrays a sense of happiness that suddenly converts into a sad and gloomy atmosphere.