Criticism > Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism > Death in American Literature (Vol. 89) - Barton Levi St. Armand (essay date 1989)


Death in American Literature (Vol. 89) - Barton Levi St. Armand (essay date 1989)

Barton Levi St. Armand (essay date 1989)

”’Looking at Death, is Dying’: Understanding Dickinson's Morbidity” in Approaches to Teaching Dickinson's Poetry, edited by Robin Riley Fast and Christine Mack Gordon, The Modern Language Association of America, 1989, pp. 155-63.

[In the following excerpt, St. Armand discusses Dickinson's stance toward death in her poetry as a mixture of the influences of her Puritan heritage and her Romantic historical context.]

Looking at Death, is Dying—
Just let go the Breath—
And not the pillow at your Cheek
So Slumbereth—(281)

“But she’s so morbid!” is an often-heard lament from fresh readers of Emily Dickinson's poetry, whether they be sixteen or sixty. Those over sixty, or those who have been exposed to a conservative ethnic background where traditional funeral and mourning customs still prevail and who are familiar with old women dressing completely in black as an...

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