The Soul has Bandaged Moments: Poet & Context

The Soul has Bandaged Moments: Poet & Context

Plot Summary

• The poem presents an intimate narrative of the speaker’s experiences of sensual and spiritual encounters, as well as emotional despair and torment.
• The speaker’s “Soul” is depicted as being bound in over-powering moments - times of joy or of pain.

Structure and Language Techniques

• Use of alliteration and assonance such as in “Bound - Biome” intensifies the auditory experience of the poem.
• Dickinson’s characteristic use of dashes provides pauses in the narrative, reflecting the speaker’s emotional hesitation or uncertainty.
• Extensive use of metaphor and simile (“Hour of Lead”) enlivens the speaker’s internal struggles.

Main Themes and Linking Poems

• The theme of freedom and confinement is seen throughout the poem, particularly in the soul’s oscillation between experiences of exhilaration and despair.
• Other poems, such as “The Soul selects her own Society” and “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain”, share themes of introspection, mental anguish, and existential mystery.

Notable Quotes

• “The Soul has Bandaged moments –”
• “A Horror of frost has startled it away”

Emily Dickinson: Poet and Context

• Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was an American poet whose work was largely unrecognized during her lifetime.
• She often explored themes of death, immortality, religion, and the human psyche in her poetry.
• Dickinson frequently used unconventional punctuation and syntax, which reflects the unique insights and deep emotions contained in her poetry.
• Her reclusive lifestyle might have influenced her intense focus on introspective and life and death themes.