A Study Of Emily Dickinson’s Christian-themed Poems

Emily Dickinson(1830-1886)wrote more than 1,800 poems.There are approximately 600 poems whose themes are about Christian religion.She wrote about her life as a solitary believer in Christ,showing readers her profound thinking and reflection on the Christian faith while living in seclusion.This thesis focuses on the Dickinson’s Christian-themed poems and explores the religious characteristics and ideological values in them,then attempts to provide meaningful references to the interpretation of Dickinson’s poetry and her hidden view of faith.This thesis consists of three parts: the introduction,the main body,and the conclusion.The introduction part begins with the poem J754 “My Life had stood-a Loaded Gun-”,which identifies the Christian character of Dickinson’s poetry,and outlines Dickinson’s research at home and abroad,as well as the innovations and ideas of this thesis.The main part of the thesis is divided into four chapters.Chapter one focuses on sorting out and analyzing Dickinson’s Christian-themed poems,which mainly includes five categories: God’s existence,nature and God,suffering and ecstasy,death and eternity or immortality,and the paradoxical Christian.The second chapter summarizes and explains the rhetorical skills of Dickinson’s Christian-themed poems,which are defamiliarization,paradox and pun.The third chapter summarizes the characteristics of Dickinson’s Christian-themed poems.Dickinson’s Christian-themed poems are full of strong character,which is one of the important reasons why her works have become classic.There are mainly three characteristics in poet’s thinking: the reconciliation of the finite and the infinite,the ambivalence of the poet’s faith,and the strengthened love of & for Christ in the female perspective.Chapter four considers the context of Dickinson’s time,family and school,and the encouragement and influence of friends and predecessors to dissect the reasons for Dickinson’s Christian-themed poems’ writing.It also evaluates Dickinson’s Christian-themed poems,the significance as the inward turn of the believer’s spirit and the leader of modern poetry.Finally,the concluding section with J657 poem “I Dwell in Possibility-” re-emphasizes that Dickinson dedicated her life to poetry,tirelessly building up a“house of poetry” out of words,and the Christian themes in her poems are so important that readers should not overlook.