Dickinson Analysis

For my analysis of an Emily Dickinson poem, I chose "Poor Little Heart!", which is found under Part Two: Love in her book of complete works. The first time I read through the poem, it was pretty obvious to me what was going on, although I had to draw some of my own conclusions about the events. In the first stanza the speaker, who I am assuming is Dickinson herself because of her use of first person, is talking to a friend who has just had their heart broken. She is feeling pity for her friend, and basically asking her what happened, what went wrong, and if this person had been forgotten by their love. Dickinson then says that they must not have cared about her friend and his or her heart to do such a thing and break it to pieces (Dickinson). The second stanza follows a very similar direction as Dickinson and her friend continue to talk. Dickinson tells her friend to be proud and brave, and to be carefree as well, at least for a little while (Dickinson). Her friend's heart has been forsaken, so Dickinson is trying to give him or her some encouragement to still be active and to be a go-getter. I find this a little ironic because Dickinson was not the most outgoing lady around and was not much of a go-getter herself. But Dickinson could obviously be making up a cute little story for her poem or something logical like that. The third stanza continues in a fashion very similar to the first and second, and Dickinson tells her friend that she would do nothing to hurt him or her. She also asks her friend to believe her and trust her (Dickinson). In the last stanza, Dickinson is basically telling her friend that broken hearts are a way of life, and it is going to happen no matter what. She tells her friend to be happy and strong like a beautiful morning glory flower. All together, I think that this poem has a good message. It's about people believing in love and giving love more chances even after having their hearts broken, as well as showing how important and meaningful being comforted by a friend is. The speaker is very strong in this poem, giving the friend a lot of encouragement. Dickinson believed that women could take care of themselves, and this shows in the poem (Snodgrass). Although the friend is encouraged to give love another chance even if it means getting hurt all over again, it seems like the speaker is also saying that her friend does not need love to be happy with his or her life. Because Dickinson is a feminist (Snodgrass), she has very strong opinions about love. I am assuming that the person is a woman, and Dickinson is pretty much telling her that she does not need that man that broke her heart, and to get over it and move on. All in all, I quite enjoyed this poem and thought the meaning behind it is easy to relate to in any time period or circumstance, and I also enjoyed the straight forward simplicity. Works Cited: Dickinson, Emily. "Poor little heart!" Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. . Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. "Dickinson, Emily." Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EFL136&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 22, 2011).