"A Hummingbird"
Emily Dickinson
A route of evanescence
With a revolving wheel;
A resonance of emerald,
A rush of cochineal;
And every blossom on the bush
Adjusts its tumbled head, ---
The mail from Tunis, probably,
An easy morning's ride.
This poem is one of the few that Dickinson gives a title. This is because she does not explicitly say what the poem is about in the lines so the title provides insight to what she writes about. She is specific about the type of bird, as well. This proves she wanted the reader to know exactly what he or she would be reading about.
This poem describes a hummingbird in all its glory and uses metaphors to describe how a hummingbird looks. The "revolving wheel" describes how hummingbirds' wings look when they flap them. The "resonance" is the sound that the flapping of wings makes and "of emerald" is one of the pretty colors on the bird's body. The "rush" is the movement of the bird past everything it flies by and as it rushes one sees "cochineal", which is a deep scarlet red color on a hummingbird. The head of the hummingbird is described as a "tumbled head", or a head with a long pointy part protruding from it. Using specific, descriptive, words Dickinson provides an image of a hummingbird.
The poem also describes the journey of the hummingbird. Hummingbirds' wings beat too fast for anyone to see, hence giving them a "route of evanescence". Wherever they fly to, whatever "route" they take, they rapidly fade from sight. Dickinson shows where the hummingbird flies. They go to "every blossom on the bush". Finally, Dickinson calls the journey "an easy morning's ride", which also tells what time of day the bird is most active. Dickinson provides a description of a hummingbird's journey in a few lines.
This short poem incorporates an allusion. "Tunis" is the capital of Tunisia in Africa. The city is a symbol for remoteness. This alludes to lines in Shakespeare's The Tempest. Tunis is a long distance from where Dickinson lived in Amherst, Massachusetts. This implies that the hummingbird seems like it comes from a far away, unknown place and it came to Massachusetts as "mail." Her allusion illuminates the hummingbird's mystery sent to where she is.
Even with the simplicity of this poem, the reader is opened to vivid images and is taken along side a hummingbird as it flies. In only eight lines Dickinson shows what a hummingbird looks like, the journey it takes every morning, and alludes to it coming from a far away mysterious place. A hummingbird is a beautiful, tiny bird that Dickinson appreciates with her writing.
You did a great job describing and analyzing everything that this short poem incorporates. I like that you broke down each element of the poem (allusions, imagery, etc.)and that you included information about the origins of the bird to further show how intentional and important the specification of a hummingbird is to Dickinson's message of the poem. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteI really like how organized your thoughts are in this post. You break the poem down to a word by word analysis to really get to Dickinson's point. I'm impressed by how much you managed to get out of such a short poem!
ReplyDeleteYour post is very clear in its explanation of the metaphors throughout the poem. I like how you went beyond the description of a bird to find Dickinson's other message in the poem. Your analysis showed a strong understanding of the poem as well as research done beyond the reading. Well done! I found your analysis really helpful in getting the full image of what Dickinson was describing in her otherwise seemingly simple poem.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, before I read this post, I didn't even think too much about the title. I now realize that, without it, some might not ever know that the poem is about a hummingbird. This is a very nice, concise blog post, in its explanation of the seemingly mundane title and of all else--great job!
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