Can anyone tell me what Emily Dickinson was talking about in the poem, "There's a Certain Slant of Light"?

Question

I have read this poem but cannot understand it. I need help on the one.

Answer 1

There's A Certain Slant Of Light by Emily Dickinson

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,
'T is 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.


Verse-by-verse analysis:

There's a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.

For me it helps to have experienced that light on such winter afternoons because I used to be in tune with it. If I recall correctly it's a strong light diffused through a thick gray cloud ceiling. That it oppresses like the weight of cathedral tunes to me means that, despite its brightness it casts a pallor over the day. It evokes emptiness in a world of crowds and busy-ness.


Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings, are.

Such a light can influence us to be somber, perhaps doubtful when otherwise we wouldn't be. Such a light is equivalent to coolness and dampness and seeps into our souls, forcing us to view our world differently.


None may teach it anything,
'T is the seal, despair,
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.

The light is deceptive: bright, but because it's diffused it's also omniprescent. We, as individuals, are like so many grains of sand against this light. We are unable to counter it or influence it in any way.


When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath;
When it goes, 't is like the distance
On the look of death.

We all must heed it: human, inanimate objects, beasts and birds. When it leaves its impression remains, trace elements the returning sunshine cannot immediately push away.

Answer 2

First you must understand old middle english definitions. Hope this helps:slant


dictionary thesaurus wordnet
translations




slant (slănt)

v., slant·ed, slant·ing, slants.

v.tr.
To give a direction other than perpendicular or horizontal to; make diagonal; cause to slope: She slants her letters from upper right to lower left.
To present so as to conform to a particular bias or appeal to a certain audience: The story was slanted in favor of the strikers.
v.intr.
To have or go in a direction other than perpendicular or horizontal; slope.

n.

A line, plane, course, or direction that is other than perpendicular or horizontal; a slope.
A sloping thing or piece of ground.
Printing. A virgule.

A personal point of view or opinion.
A bias.
Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a person of East Asian birth or descent.
[Alteration of obsolete slent, from Middle English slenten, to fall aslant, perhaps of Scandinavian origin.]

slantingly slant'ing·ly adv.
SYNONYMS slant, incline, lean, slope, tilt, tip. These verbs mean to depart or cause to depart from true vertical or horizontal: rays of light slanting through the window; inclined her head toward the speaker; leaned against the railing; a driveway that slopes downhill; tilted his hat at a rakish angle; tipped her chair against the wall.



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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2004, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


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slant

verb

Answer 3

i luv dickinson...

i think in this one she is saying that fate rules all of us. she (as usual) is depressed by her station and predicament in life and she is trying to express that sense of non-control... that she and everyone must suffer under the unfeeling hand of fate.

but that's just my opinion... i could be wrong.