Emily Dickinson’s This was a Poet- it is That Essay -- Poet Poem Poeti

Emily Dickinson’s This was a Poet- it is That Emily Dickinson was an unrecognized poet her whole life. Her close family members recognized her talent, and her needs to write poetry, but the literary establishment of her time would not recognize her skill. Even though she was unrecognized, she was still quietly battling the established views through her poetry. Her literary struggle was exposed after her death since, while living, only five of her poems were published. Many of her poems were a reaction to the rejection of many publishers and other literary critics. This particular poem’s character comes from Dickinson’s reaction to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s statement that â€Å"poets are thus liberating gods.† Here she is challenging the established literati by questioning popular Emersonian views. In particular, this poem is a reaction to Emerson’s belief that â€Å"the poet is the sayer, the namer, and represents beauty.† Basically, it is a reaction to the idea that the poet is the creator of beautiful words, liberating the common people by giving them words they would not have access to. This was a Poet  ­ It is That by Emily Dickinson This was a Poet  ­ It is That Distills amazing sense From ordinary Meanings - And Attar so immense From the familiar species That perished by the Door - We wonder it was not Ourselves Arrested it - before Of Pictures, the Discloser  ­ The Poet  ­ it is He  ­ Entitles Us  ­ by Contrast - To ceaseless Poverty - Of Portion  ­ so unconscious - The Robbing  ­ could not harm - Himself  ­ to Him  ­ a Fortune - Exterior  ­ to Time  ­ In the first stanza the author is describing the role of the poet. The poet is one who recreates an irregular view, or creates a s... ...nd the commoner, both victims of the relationship they have with each other. Although she does agree with Emerson that the poet is a namer, she disagrees with some of his other thoughts. Through this poem, Dickinson is setting herself apart from the Poets of her time. She does not consider herself a robber baron of words. She also chooses to deny that the poets are liberating gods because she feels that the poet is in fact dominating the ordinary person, not liberating them. Instead, Dickinson chooses to categorize herself with the ordinary people. She is criticizing Emerson’s obvious belief that the poet is above the ordinary man. He calls himself a liberating God because he is a poet when Dickinson just wants to be a normal person who is a poet. Dickinson does not want to be above the ordinary person in a condescending way, but wants to be among them.