Emily Dickenson

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a boarding school. In this short, witty piece Dickinson addresses two of the main obsessions of her generation: The pursuit of empirical knowledge through science, faith in an all-knowing, all-powerful Christian god and the debate on which was the more powerful belief. In this poem Dickinson uses humor to ease her position in the debate on to the reader. Dickinson uses her ability to write humorously and ironically to present a firm, controversial opinion into what could be dismissed as an irreverent, inconsequential piece of writing. In "Success" Dickinson's emphasis is less on humor and more on expressing irony. This poem "may be partially autobiographical in nature." (Loving 200) Dickinson made few attempts during her life to be taken as more than an armature poet. On one occasion, she sent a collection of her poems to a correspondent who was also a published poet. His criticism of the poems devastated Dickinson, and she never made another attempt towards ...

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a child-like outlook on life rather than adapting to the boring norms of her society ("How dreary - to be - Somebody!"). She mocks the conventional need for self-importance through publicity ("How public - like a Frog", "To tell one's name - the livelong June"), suggesting that the audience isn't that interested ("To an admiring Bog"). She instead seems to idealize her solitude by creating the mysterious feeling of a secret society of social outcasts ("Don't tell! they'd advertise - you know!"). In this poem, she effectively uses humor to soften a critique of certain members of her society. While this poem is longer than the other poems ...

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