Emily Dickinson 

 

 

 

In addition to her poems I  wanted to illustrate  how a quote of few lines  from Emily Dickensen can be  powerful and thought provoking.

 

 

Analysis of a quote : 

 

God is indeed a jealous God—J

1719

God is indeed a jealous God—
He cannot bear to see
That we had rather not with Him
But with each other play.

 

 

This Quote speaks of man’s grievances against God.The poet here refers to God as a jealous person as she feels God does not want us to  be with our loved ones on earth instead He  wants to  call them up to heaven so that they can all be with him. I feel the poet has written this in a moment of grief and after the loss of a loved one. ‘That we had rather not with Him’ clearly this line reflects the anger and sorrow of the poet. She does not want her loved one to be with God. ‘ But with each other play’ this line clearly speaks of her desire and wish to be  with the departed one here on earth.

 

The poet here is refering to God as jealous the word  jealous here is a strong way to express her complaint and sadness to the Almighty God as she realizes He is the only one who could have kept her loved one united with her. The word ‘play’ here is used to represent the life together on Earth and the act of doing things together and being a part of each other. 

 

As a reader i find it a very strong and moving quote where even though very simply and strong message of pain comes through. In this quote what stands out a lot is the playing of simple words to convey a strong inner feeling.

 

The perspective of this poem is a intellectual perspective in Emily Dickinson's point of view. The setting of this quote is not specified but I would think that this quote would have been just thoughts rooming around her mind when she found out she was sick or this could have been around the time that she was In the hospital because she was in the hospital for a long time. I think the mood Emily Dickinson wants to create is anger because this quote is about death and how we all eventually die and she doesn't like the fact that god gives us such a thing as death.

 

Context of the Quote

 

This quote  by Emily Dickinson shows how she thinks God doesn't want us to be on this earth and thats why there is such a thing as death.

 

Opening and Closing Lines of the Quote

 

In the opening and closing lines of the quote the reader can sense  a negative vibe. I think that Emily Dickinson leaves an impression with her closing line by “ But with each other play”

 

Speaker of the Quote

 

The speaker is universal and the poet is writing this in a third persons perspective we see that because she says :”That we”.

 

Fantasy versus Reality

 

The poet here is expressing the reality of life. It is showing what she feels about the reality that is death and parting.

 

Mood and Tone of the Quote

 

The mood is of anger and sadness. In this quote she is complaining about how it is unfair that God snatches away her loved ones. This tone is a sarcastic tone and this is evident by the phrase “God is a Jealous, god”. 

 

Theme of the Quote

 

The theme  is loss because even though she talks about god being jealous she is suffering from a loss and thats what the main theme of this quote. 

 

Language of the Quote

 

The language of this quote  is direct and bold she clearly states her issue with god in simply four lines.