Abstract：Emily Dickinson is one of the greatest lyric poets in the history of American literature. In her life, she created a large number of poems among which her death poems are especially fascinating. Through the analysis of several typical death poems of Emily Dickinson, this paper is intended to explore her ambivalence in death poems. In her death poems, she vacillates between the fear and yearning of death. On the one hand, Dickinson feels death is horrible, chilling; on the other hand, she deems death so beautiful that it provides people with utter relief. This ambivalent attitude runs throughout her death poems. 

Dickinson’s ambivalent attitude towards death is dramatically and strikingly brought out by her original diction and idiosyncratic writing style, such as the use of metaphor, personification, peculiar punctuations, defamiliarization and so on. The factors that contribute to her ambivalence are complicated and diverse. Her family, her friends as well as her religious beliefs all have significant influence on her. 

It is hoped that this paper may help readers to gain a new perspective for interpreting Dickinson’s death poems and therefore to better understand the implications of her death poems, which may spark off readers’ refections on the eternal subject of life and death.. 

Key words：Emily Dickinson; death poems; ambivalence

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

中文摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 Brief Introduction to Emily Dickinson-1

1.2 Comments on Emily Dickinson’s Main Achievement-2

1.3 The Purpose and Significance of the Present Study-3

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW -4

Chapter Three EMILY DICKINSON’S AMBIVALENT ATTITUDE TOWARDS DEATH -6

3.1 Her Fear of Death-6

3.2 Her Longing for Death-7

Chapter Four ARTTISTIC TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED TO CONVEY HER AMBIVALENCE-9

4.1 A Variety of Rhetorical Devices-9

4.1.1 Metaphor-9

4.1.2 Personification-10

4.2 Manifestation of Defamiliarization-11

4.3 Peculiar Punctuations-12

Chapter Five FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO HER AMBIVALENCE-14

5.1 The Effect of Her Living Environment-14

5.1.1 Her family-14

5.1.2 Her friends-14

5.2 Her Religious Beliefs-15

5.3 The Influence of Transcendentalism-16

Chapter Six CONCLUSION-18

WORKS CITED-19