Emily Dickinson’s Paradoxical View of Nature

1、emily dickinsons paradoxical view of natureby bi lilisupervised by zhang huirongin partial fulfillment of the requirementfor the b. a. degreeschool of foreign languagesanhui science and technology universityjune 2010abstractemily dickinson is one of the most prominent american poets in the 19th cent

2、ury. all through her life, she wrote about 1775 poems among which more than 500 poems are about nature. her nature poems are not only fresh and unvarnished but also full of sensibility, wisdom and exquisite observation. however, the feelings she holds toward nature are paradoxical. on the one hand,

3、dickinson admires nature; loves nature; holds the feelings that human can have a harmonious relationship with nature. on the other hand, she considers nature to be mysterious and full of hostility. she also thinks that nature is the riddle human beings can never guess. there is irreversible separati

4、on between human beings and nature. this paper attempts to interpret dickinsons paradoxical feelings toward nature and the relationship between nature and human beings by introducing the cultural background and her life experience, as well as analyzing some of her representative nature poems. dickin

5、sons nature poems are the reflection of her inner world, through which we can realize her cognition toward life and world. key words: emily dickinson; view of nature; paradoxical views.中文摘要爱米莉狄金森(18301886) 是19世纪美国著名的女诗人。她一生共创作1775首诗歌，其中有500多首是关于大自然的。其自然诗歌清新质朴，却又充满着诗人的感性、智慧以及敏锐的观察。诗人对大自然的态度是矛盾的，她一方面崇

6、拜自然，热爱自然，认为人与自然可以和谐相处.另一方面，她认为大自然是一个谜，自然对人类的利益甚至生命都漠不关心。大自然是冷酷的,无情的。人类与自然之间存在一道难以逾越的鸿沟。这一类诗往往带有神秘的色彩。关键词：艾米莉狄金森；自然观；矛盾观. contentsabstract in english-iabstract in chinese-iicontents-iiichapter one introduction-11.1 literature review - 11.2 the theme of the thesis - 21.3 the framework of the paper - 2

7、chapter two emily dickinson and her poetry - 32.1 emily dickinsons life experience - 32.2 emily dickinsons poetry -3chapter three emily dickinsons paradoxical view of nature -53.1 paradoxical views towards nature-5 3.1.1 the beauty and benevolence of nature -53.1.2 the indifference and mystery of na

8、ture- 113.2 paradoxical views towards the relationship between human and nature- 143.2.1 the harmonious relationship between human and nature-143.2.2 the irreversible separation between human and nature-17chapter four conclusion -20acknowledgements -21abbreviations -22bibliography -23chapter one int

9、roduction1.1 literature reviewemily dickinson (1830-1836) is one of the most famous american poets in 19th century. all her life she was never married and lived a life of seclusion. her poems, just like her life, are full of mystery. since the first volume of poems by emily dickinson (higginson, 189

10、0) came out, people have showed their complex attitudes and comments to this “strange” literary star. 1.2 the theme of the thesisthis paper tries to interpret dickinsons paradoxical feelings toward nature itself and the relationship between nature and human beings through introducing the cultural ba

11、ckground and her life experience, as well as analyzing some of her representative nature poems. from this thesis, we can make a better understanding of dickinsons contradictory view of nature.1.3 the framework of the paperin the first chapter, the author gives a general introduction about the achiev

12、ements of relevant researching at home and abroad, the theme and framework of this study. in chapter two the author introduces emily dickinsons life experience and her poetry. in chapter three the author states the cultural background in her time and studies her paradoxical views towards nature itse

13、lf and the relationship between human and nature by analyzing her nature poems. in the last chapter the author gives a conclusion about the whole thesis.chapter two emily dickinson and her poetry2.1 emily dickinsons life experienceemily (elizabeth) dickinson was born on december 10, 1830, in one of

14、the leading amhersts families. being the daughter of a prominent lawyer and politician, dickinson got a good education and attended the amherst academy where she got chances to building friendships with others and enjoyed many subjects especially botany. she studied it and collected specimens from f

15、orests, fields, and even her garden. her knowledge of plants is the beginning of her love of nature and later inspired her poetry greatly.after her time at the academy, in 1847, dickinson attended the south hadley female seminary. although she was successful at college, dickinson returned after only

16、 one year at the seminary in 1848 to amherst then she began her life of seclusion.chapter four conclusionnature is an eternal theme in the history of literature. many people consider themselves as the lovers of nature. but what is the real lover of nature？emerson once defined him as follows:“the lov

17、er of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. his intercourse with heaven and earth becomes part of his daily food.” (emerson, 1990: 18)during her lifetime, almost everyday, dickinson is

18、 involved herself in nature and looking for the essence of nature and human beings. from this point, we can say that, she is a real lover of nature and there are countless ties between her and transcendentalism. however, unlike emerson, she considers nature as a dangerous master and points out that

19、man and nature exist independently. in this sense, dickinson negates emersons optimism and idealism, and forms her own viewpoint towards nature. in more than 20 years reclusive life, dickinson maintains the precious things in her heart, which are perfectly expressed in her poems without omission (li

20、u shoulan, 2006:25). she lives to write “a letter to the world” that would express her ideas of the world and paint what henry james called “the landscape of the soul” (chang yaoxin, 2006: 103). no matter what comments readers and scholars make, there is no doubt that her peculiar writing skills, va

21、rious themes of her poetry as well as her unusual life experience have established dickinsons esteemed reputation as a great american poetess.acknowledgementsmy deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to my supervisor, zhang huirong, for her constant encouragement and guidance. she has walked me through all the stages of the writing of this thesis. without her constant instruction, this thesis could not have reached its present form. also i feel very grateful to all the teachers and students at the department of english who have instructed and helped me a