perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
AN ANALYSIS OF SYMBOLIC SIGNS
(A Semiotics Approach)
THESIS
Submitted as a Partial Fulfilment of Requirements for the SarjanaSastra Degree in English Department Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University
by Nabila Inaya Jannati C0308052
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FINE ARTS
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY SURAKARTA 2012 perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover...... i Approval of The Thesis Supervisor ...... ii Approval of The Board of Examiners...... iii Pronouncement ...... iv Motto...... v Dedication...... vi Acknowledgement ...... vii Table of Contents...... viii Abstract...... x
I. CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION A. Research Background ...... 1 B. Research Questions...... 4 C. Research Limitation...... 5 D. Research Objectives...... 5 E. Research Benefits...... 5 F. Research Methodology ...... 6 G. Thesis Organization ...... 8
II. CHAPTER II : LITERATURE REVIEW A. Previous Researches...... 9 B. Semiotics of Poetry...... 11 1...... 13 a. Displacing meaning ...... 14 b. Distorting meaning...... 14 c. Creating meaning...... 14 2. Sign Production ...... 16 a. Semes and Presupposition ...... 16 b. Clichés ...... 17 perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
c. Descriptive systems ...... 17 3. Text Production ...... 18 a. Expansion ...... 18 b. Conversion...... 19 4. Interpretants...... 19 a. Lexematic interpretant...... 20 1). Heuristic...... 20 2). Hermeneutic...... 21 b. Textual interpretant ...... 22 C. Symbol ...... 23 D. Symbols in Death Poems ...... 25 E. Biography of Emily Dickinson ...... 27 F. Frame of Thought ...... 29
III.CHAPTER III : ANALYSIS A...... 32 1. Because I could not stop for Death...... 32 2. It was not death, for I stood up...... 39 3. I died for beauty, but was scarce ...... 46 4. a death in the opposite house ...... 51 5. How many times these low feet staggered ...... 60 6. If I should die ...... 65 B. The Way Dickinson Constructs Symbols in her Death Poems...... 72
IV. CHAPTER IV : CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION A. Conclusion ...... 86 B. Recommendation ...... 87
BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
ABSTRACT
Nabila Inaya Jannati. C0308052. An Analysis of Symbolic Signs in Emily . Undergraduate Thesis. Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts. Sebelas Maret University.
This research explores the symbolic signs in Emil poems. This is a descriptive qualitative library research. The main data are six death poems taken from The Poems of Emily Dickinson.Meanwhile, the supporting data are involved the historical background of the writer, books, articles, journals, critics and other academic writings. The objectives of this research are to identify the kinds of symbols appear in son constructs symbols in her death poems. This research uses semiotic approach and applies Semiotics of Poetry. This theory focuses on poetry analysis and gives the most representative tool to uncover symbolic signs in poem. This theory also relates to social and cultural background analysis. The first result shows that there are two kinds of symbols, personal symbols and conventional symbols. The second result shows that there are three major ways of Dickinson in constructing symbols in her death poems. First, she
states that poetry expresses indirection (displacing, distorting, and creating meaning). on in the process of understanding the poem. Second, she uses cliché, customs and the role of influence or any characteristics of the conventional poems. Third, she creates personal symbols into two ways; modifies conventional symbols into personal symbols and uses the symbols of nature and modifies the meaning. Based on the conclusion, it is recommended for other researchers to analyze symbolic signs on poetry written by other poets with other themes. Further, it is expected that this research will attract other researchers to do research on poetry. Moreover, the use of other theories and approaches is essential to enrich the type of research in English Department, especially the research on poetry. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Research Background
Death is an interesting topic to discuss in human society, not only important
but also controversial. In short, death is the end of life of a person and other living
things. However, there are various conceptions of death from different scientific
approaches and belief systems across the world. In biological approach, death means
the end . he loss of heart and lung function can be
seen as the criterion of death (Fisher, 1999, p. 473). In religious approach, Buddhism
focuses on seeing death as an ordinary spiritual opportunity and a component of
natural life cycle or sufferings cycle (Heendeniya, 2009, p. 71).Death can be seen as a
single event or maybe a process. Death emerges with an unclear definition that still
being discussed by the society.
In general, people see the death of living things as a scary, frightening, and
upsetting phenomenon. As the result, most of people have almost similar idea in
suggesting death prevention consciously or unconsciously. There areother ideas
which sees death phenomenon differently. For example, Hinduism accepts death as a
part of reincarnation process which relates to the cycle of death and rebirthfor all the
living things (http://www.uky.edu/Classes/PHI/350/meaning.htm).Moreover, Voodoo
believes about life after death and the existence of supernatural world. As their tenet,
1 perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 2
(http://www.cookross.com/docs/haiti.pdf).Death can be seen as a controversial topic
which is not only logical but also ambiguous.
The ideas of death emerged in the advance of literary works, especially
poetry. In the era of poetry development, poetry did not only talk about love, beauty
and other romantic things. However, some of themprecisely view dark and gloomy
things. Death phenomenon becomes interesting theme which warped up inthe form of
poetry. The ambiguous conceptions and characters of death can be transformed into
beautiful arrangements of poems.
The interesting things about death can be seen in .
Emily Dickinson rejects common themes and conventional understanding upon
poetry. She chooses death as an unusual theme which shows her characteristic. In her
poems, she dramatizes death in form of paradox. By her great intelligence, she can
transform upsetting and frightening circumstance of death into beautiful circumstance
of death. However, she uses ordinary and common objects to represent her ideas.
BECAUSE I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality.
Emily Dickinson has different ways in saying her ideas through a poem. She
usually reveals her ideas through various dictions which relates to the beauty of
nature. She also uses the literary devices, such as tone, figurative language and perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 3
allusion to create a riddle in her poems. According to the researcher, the most
symbol. Symbol is a sign which has
further layers of meaning. Symbol stands above the other types of sign, that is,
broader and more ambiguous in meaning (Guerin, 1996, p. 41-42).
I heard a fly buzz when I died; The stillness round my form
It can be seen that Emily Dickinson explores dark and hidden part of the mind. Death
emerges in a different circumstance that she creates through her simple object choices
such a fly. She chooses the buzzing sound of a fly as an auditory imagery. The fly
itself can stand as a symbol of death. It identically relates to the decomposition
process of organism. Through her words, Emily Dickinson declares her sensitivity of
nature.
However, Emily Dickinson is not the only poet that explores the theme of
death. Christina Rossetti has many similarities with Emily Dickinson. Both poets
were born in 1830; both poets were concerned with death as the theme of their works.
But, Christina only shows the fear and tragic of death. Herverse grew continually
thinner and more repetitive. In her works, the form and the explicit ideas of death are
less interesting.
There are six poems explored in this thesis. The poems are Because I could
I I died for beauty, but was
How many times these low perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 4
If I s . The poems are taken from The Poems of Emily
Dickinsonpublished by the Pennsylvania State University.
The poems explore the theme of death through the existence of various
symbolic signs. Some of the poems use diction that does not exist in common poems
by other writers. As a nonconformist poet, she often reserved meanings of words and
phrases and uses paradox to create greater effect in her poems.
There are some points that the researcher expects by composing this thesis.
ms are difficult to understand. Her
ideas of death are too odd and abstract. Her symbolic sign are uneasy to be
interpreted. However, the researcher thinks that symbolic signs in Emily
poemseven the most interesting part to explore. Thus, the researcher would like to
using semiotics approach.
B. Research Questions
Based on the research background above, the researcher formulated two
research questions. They are as follows.
1. What kinds of symbol appear death poems?
2. How does Emily Dickinson construct symbolsin her death poems? perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 5
C. Research Limitation
This researchfocuses on analyzing the symbolic signs.The discussion includes
the interpretation of each symbolwhich implies the ideas of death in Emily
death poems. To avoid bias of the discussion, the researcher does not
focus on analyzing the religious and philosophical aspect
poems deeply. Such limitation is needed in order to keep the research focused on the
research questions.
D. Research Objectives
The objectives of the research are:
1. to identify the kinds of symbols death poems.
2. to describe how Emily Dickinson constructs symbols in her death poems.
E. Research Benefits
The research is expected to give significance as follows:
1. to contribute a new insight in understanding modern poetry, especially Emily
death poems.
2. to provide an analysis of symbolic signs death poems as the
representation of her new ideas or thought toward death phenomenon. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 6
F. Research Methodology
1. Type of Research
This research uses descriptive qualitative library research. The descriptive
technique is intended to make clearer understanding about symbolic signs in Emily
Donovan (as cited in Stafford, 2011, p. 3) explains that
qualitative research focuses on analyzing situation and interpreting symbols in a
situation that is being studied. This research focuses on the interpretation of literary
document through existence of words, phrases, and sentences. As a library research, it
uses books and other writings to support the objectivity of this analysis.
2. Data and Source of Data
The main data or primary data for this research are taken from The Poems of
Emily Dickinson published by the Pennsylvania State University. The selected
poems: Bec I I died
How many
. The theme of the six poems are
the same, all of them contain the idea of death. But, each poem has its own
appear differently in representing the theme.
The secondary data were all data supporting the main data. It involves the
historical background of the writer, books, articles, journals, critics and other perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 7
academic writings. The data consist of the statements from literary experts and
related references to support the analysis of symbolic signsofthe selected poems
above.
3. Technique of Collecting Data
The first step of collecting data is by performing close reading to the primary
and secondary data. The researcher made a brief interpretation and takes a note for
important finding. From the note taken, the research
poetic devices, such as figure of speech, image, repetition, etc. The data collected
were taken from the six poems whichshow the emergence of symbolic signs in
representing the ideas of death.As the second stage of reading with deeper
interpretation,the researcher selected the data collection to find the symbolic sign as
the main data of this research. As the secondary data, the researcher collected any
documents that deal with the primary data and support the analysis.
4. Technique of Analyzing Data
The analysis of the data is done in three major steps. After finishing the data
collecting method, the first step is classifying the data. The data classification is
based on the two kinds of symbol association: personal symbol and conventional
symbol. The classification process is supported by the usage of Dictionary of Symbol
which explains the common meaning of symbol. As the second step, the researcher
displayed the classified data and applied semiotic theory to answer the research perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 8
questions of this research. The researcher analyzed the kinds and the construction of
symbols in the poems. The process of collecting data is already taken through
heuristic reading. It is continued by hermeneutic reading as the process of finding the
appearance of symbol and its meaning which related to the whole meaning of the
poem. This process is the most essential part of the research. The essence of this step
is to find the significance of symbols inside the poems. As the last step, the researcher
drew the conclusion and reported the results in a systemic writing.
G. Thesis Organization
The thesis will be divided into four chapters and is divided into sub-chapters.
The detail of the organization is as follows.
Chapter one is introduction. It consist of seven sub-chapters; research
background, research questions, research limitation, research objectives, research
benefits, research methodology, and thesis organization.
Chapter two is literary review. It consists of five sub-chapters; previous
researches, semiotics of poetry, symbols, symbols and death poems, and biography of
Emily Dickinson.
Chapter three is the analysis. It consists of two sub-chapters; the kinds of
symbol and the way Emily Dickinson constructs symbols in her death poems.
Chapter four is conclusion and recommendation. In this chapter, the
researcher concludes the research and makes the recommendation to the reader. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Previous Research
Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts. The thesis entitles
of Time and Eternity using semiotics theory by Michael Riffaterre. This thesis was
written by Eko Suryo Sambodo who tries to reveal the type of love expression and
the way Emily Dickinson expresses love through her poems. He analyzed the words,
phrases, sentences and punctuation marks as signs which contain hidden meaning.
The results of this thesis are the description of four kinds of love that occur in
love to her mother, love to her lover, love to her friends,
and love of peace. In her love poems, Emily Dickinson uses metaphor to flatter
someone she loves. She creates unperfected arrangement of rhymes to show the
her characteristic in expressing sadness.
The other thesis entitles using the
Semiotics of Poetry conducted by Niko Fediyanto. The two
main ideas are the social criticisms appear in E. E. Cummings poems and the way
Cummings delivers his social criticisms. There are six poems analyzed in this thesis.
The form of word, phrase, sentence, stanza and the complete poems are the primary
9 perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 10
data of this thesis. The typography, ungrammatical words and dictions are the other
important elements of social criticism.
The results of this thesis are the descriptions of five social criticisms in E. E.
Cummings poems such as criticizing the unrealistic life, criticizing people in the
Cummings delivers his social criticism in three ways: creating
method by using many syntactic elements,
the typography pattern in his poems, and makes a contrast between clichés of the
conventional poems with his view upon reality.
Furthermore, there is another thesis which uses semiotics approach written by
Yudha Santi Utami. This thesis entitles
Novel Silas Marner. This thesis discusses about the kinds of icons and the
significance of icons in novel Silas Marner s
theories to answer the research question of this thesis.
As the conclusions, there are two kinds of icon found in Silas Marner. They
are diagram and metaphor. The metaphor can be found after it is connected with the
cultural and social background of the story. She uses some textual interpretants to
find the significance of the icons.
By reading the three previous researches, the researcher decided to conduct a
s death poems. This thesis uses
semiotics approach but it is quite different from the previous researches. It focuses on perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 11
the kinds of symbols, the significance of symbols and the way Emily Dickinson
constructs symbols in her poems.
B. Semiotics of Poetry
The word semiotics derives from Greek, semeion, which means sign. Thus,
semiotics means study of signs. Semiotics theory is developed by two pioneers,
Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles S. Peirce. Saussure is known as the founder of
modern linguistic through his theory of semiology gy as the
science which studies sign system: language, codes,
1975, p. 1). Saussure emphasizes the social function of the sign. There are two
elements in Saussure s concept: signifier and signified. Signifier is something which
carries the meaning and signified is the actual meaning which is carried.
Signified
Signifier
However, Pierce also conceived of a general theory of signs which he called
semiotics, the domain area of investigation that explores the nature and function of
signs (Guiraud, 1975, p. 1).Furthermore, Pierce stated that
sy 10). Pierce emphasizes the logical function of
the sign. Based on his statement, he analyzed how people think and communicate in
signs. Pierce explained is about the relation between perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 12
an inefficient thing to be an efficient thing to make it active but to
. The essential
function of a sign is the efficiency, not only in communicating but also in
understanding the world. Sign is about what people believe and what people should
realize. T t would make people become aware of what
Zoest,
1993, p. 11).
According to Pierce, sign is something which represents something else. He
defined triadic relation of sign: representament, object, and interpretant. The sign
stand as the representament which represent something called object or referent.
After the representament is connected with the object and conceived by the perceiver
in his mind, it becomes interpretant. Pierce classified the relationship between the
representament and the object into three kinds: icon, index, and symbol. Icon is a sign
which its relation to object is based on similarity. Index is a sign which its relation to
object is based on causal relationship. Symbol is a sign which its relation to object is
based on convention.
Representament
Object Interpretant perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 13
In the history of semiotics theory, Michael Riffaterre has played a central role
expresses concepts and thing
by indirection. To put it simply, a poem says one thing and m
(Riffaterre, 1978, p. 1). He clearly stated that poetry always deals with indirectness.
Poetry is literary product that needs more contemplation in the process of
understanding compared with other literary product such as prose and drama. In his
theory, indirection employs concepts or rules that not familiar with public
convention. Poetry often has its own writing concepts that may be not even be
understood by common readers.
Semiotics of Poetry substantially consists of five chapters, but in
this case the researcher will discuss the four chapters only. The four chapters are
, and interpretants.
1.
The language of poetry is different from the common usage of daily language.
The language of poetry is usually connotative which need a deeper contemplation and
imagination, both in creating and understanding it. Moreover, the language of poetry
is clearly related to inconstantly esthetic concepts which dictated the process of
creating and understanding poetry. However, the constant theory is that poetry
expresses indirection. Indirection is produced by displacing, distorting, and creating
meaning. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 14
a. Displacing meaning
when one word
(Riffaterre, 1978, p. 2). In poetry, the term of metaphor and metonymy as the
representative of figurative words could create level of meaning.
b. Distorting meaning
ambiguity, contradiction, or n
(Riffaterre, 1978, p. 2). Ambiguity means that a word or a sentence may have two
or more different meaning. Ambiguity is not only frustrating but also indicating
an ingredient of literariness (Riffaterre, 1983, p. 8). As the characteristic of
literary language, each word could create various meaning in the process of
interpretation. Contradiction is caused by the use of paradox and irony.
Contradiction relates to units of meaning, when the meanings contradict with the
real or normative meaning. Nonsense means that the words have no meaning
linguistically. But, the words create certain meaning when it takes on the
arrangement of poems.
c. Creating meaning
out of linguistic items that may not be meaningful otherwise (for instance, perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 15
symmetry, rhyme, or semantic equivalences between positional homologues in a
p. 2).Homologues (equivalent of position) mean that
all the signs out of linguistic create a meaning out of linguistic meaning.
Symmetry, rhyme, or even punctuation mark may have a deeper or wider
meaning than a sentence.
Riffaterre (1978) emphasize that poem has a structure of meaning (p. 1).
Poetry has their own structure and different from a prosaic text. Riffaterre (1983)
states
components that guide the reader towards a
(p. 7). In poem, through finding the homologues of the text, the further explanation
will depart in the area of intertext. The socialect or the intertext offers a frame of
thought or a signifying system that helps the reader in the process of interpreting
(Riffaterre, 1983, p. 7). It is directed to the function of signs as the media of meaning
Furthermore, Riffaterre emphasizes the concept of semiotic unity as the most
fundamental feature in his theory. It relates to his hermeneutic model where there are
a frame, or system, or angle of vision in the process of looking for solution by the
reader (Riffaterre, 1983, p. 7).In this process, there is an occurrence of phenomenon,
a process which results in variants of the same structural matrix:
The poem results from the transformation of the matrix, a minimal and literal sentence, into a longer, complex, and non literal periphrasis. The perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 16
matrix is hypothetical, being only the grammatical and lexical actualization of a structure. The matrix may be epitomized in one word, in which case the word will not appear in the text. It is always actualized in successive variants; the form of these variants is governed by the first or primary actualization, the model. Matrix, model, and text are variants of the same structure. (Riffaterre, 1978, p. 19)
2. Sign Production
he poetic sign is a word or a phrase pertinent to the
23). In transforming signs into
thus the motor, the generator of the textual derivation, while the model determines the
manner of tha 21). Poetic sign determined by
hypogrammatic derivation: a word or phrase is poeticized when it refers to (and if a
phrase, patterns itself (Reffaterre, 1978, p. 23). He
says that hypogram is already a system of signs comprising at least a predication, or it
maybe a large as a text, that maybe potential and observable in a previous text
(Riffaterre, 1978, p. 23). It is a text which becomes the background or the reason of
the other texts or poems creation.
There are three types of hypogram: semes and presupposition, clichés (or
quotation), and descriptive systems.
a. Semes and Presupposition perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 17
pre Riffaterre, 1978, p. 25).Semes has the same function as an
encyclopedia of representation related to the meaning of that word (Riffaterre,
1978, p. 26).
31). Presupposition means presuppose or presume to the meaning of a word. As
s to
decode not only the connotation but also denotation. It is important to find the
meaning of a word.
b. Clichés
This hypogram is different from the preceding category because this
hypogram is It is part of
linguistic competence and literary connotations which is taken from other sources
and usually to support a statement. Clichés are everywhere, something familiar,
ready-made examples, well-tested images that the basic mechanism, however, is
also one of the seme actualization (Riffaterre, 1978, p. 39). Clichés or quotation
in a poem added by the poet, it is taken from previous poem or from other poet.
c. Descriptive systems
The descriptive systems are almost the same as presupposition network
and may be more complex, but in their simpler form they are very close to the perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 18
dictionary definition of their kernel words. The descriptive system is a network of
words associated with one another around a kernel word, in accordance with the
sememe of that nucleus (Riffaterre, 1978, p. 39).
3. Text Production
The text as locus of significance is generated by conversion and expansion.
Both expansion and conversion establish equivalences between a word and a
sequence of words (Rifatterre, 1978, p. 47).
a. Expansion
establishes the equivalence by transforming one sign into
several which is to say by deriving from one word a verbal sequence with that
47). Expansion transforms the
essential of simple matrix sentence into more complex forms. Expansion may be
made up entirely of repetitive sequences. Riffaterre added that repetition is a sign
that may symbolize an emotional tension or as n icon of motion.
xpansion has another far-reaching effect upon
poetic discourse: it transforms the more abstract language forms, especially the
grammatical connectives, 53). Expansion is the
transformation of abstract into figurative signs. This is the principal, perhaps the
only, agent operating (apparently) to remove arbitrariness in the extreme and
exemplary case of abstract signs, because it substitutes for these symbols icons or perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 19
that seem to explain or legitimate the relationship they symbolize by
rewriting them in the code of the words linked by these relationship (Riffaterre,
1978, p. 54).
b. Conversion
lays down the equivalence by transforming several signs
sign, that is, by endowing the components of a sequence with
the same characteristic features. Conversion particularly affects sequences
generated by expansion (Rifatterre, 1978, p. 47). The rule of conversion is that
conversion transforms the constituents of the matrix sentence by modifying them
all with the same factor (Riffaterre, 1978, p. 63). Conversion is able to affect
much longer sequences than phrases or sentences and to make one sign out of a
whole text.
4. Interpretants
The concept of interpretant is needed in the shifting process of meaning to
significance. It is a sign that translates
the text suggests. Interpretant can be defined as any equivalence established by the
poem and perceived by retroactive reading: for instance, a paradigm of
synonym (Rifatterre, 1978, p. 81). The role of interpretant in reading process is
played by the poetic words, the role the reader rationalizes as a symbol of the writer perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 20
intention. In this term, signs standas mediator to represent the equivalence of two
signifying systems: the meaning-conveying one and the significance-carrying one
(Riffaterre, 1978, p. 81). Reffaterre distinguishes between lexematic interpretant and
textual interpretant.
a. Lexematic interpretant
Lexematic is mediating words. It is called asdual signs because either they
generate two texts simultaneously within the poem (or one text that must be
understood in two different ways), or else they presuppose two hypograms
simultaneously (Riffaterre, 1978, p. 81).
There are two reading stages in analyzing poems: heuristicand
hermeneutics.
1) Heuristic
since it is during this reading that meaning is
p. 5). As the first stage of reading, heuristic dictates the readers in
understanding the existence of linguistic signs. It is includes the assumption
that language is referential; a poem stands in the stage of mimesis (a
representation of an action or a statement about object and situation). In poem,
the first stage of reading goes on from beginning to end of the text, from top
to bottom of the page, and follows the syntagmatic unfolding. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 21
2) Hermeneutic
Hermeneutic or retroactive reading is the second stage of
interpretation. As a higher system, hermeneutic is a guideline from mimesis to
semiosis. It focuses on the transformation of signs which appear to reach the
complete arrangement of semiotic system.Riffaterre (1983) explains that
through hermeneutic the readers become conscious of their own interpreting,
even the text seems obscure and ambiguous (pp. 7-8).
As he progresses through the text, the reader remembers what he has just read and modifies his understanding of it in the light of what he is now decoding. As he works forward from start to finish, he is reviewing, revising, comparing backwards. He is in effect performing a structural decoding, as he moves through the text he comes to recognize, by dint of comparisons or simply because he is now able to put them together, that successive and differing statements, first noticed as mere ungrammaticalities, are in fact equivalent, for they now appear as variants of the same structural matrix (Riffaterre, 1978, pp. 5-6)
As the conclusion, through this two stages of reading the readers deal
with interpretation in the level of first and second formal interpretation where
the reader experience dual sign. There is a process of comprehending the core
meaning of the poetry by the reader through the level of decoding signs in
heuristic and in the level of hermeneutic. It started from the fist level where
interpretation based on the emergence of words which may carry more than
one meaning or dual signs. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 22
Retroactive reading thus appears to be the method for decoding dual signs: first, because the sign refers to a paradigm, and a paradigm can be recognized only after it has been sufficiently developed in space so that certain constants can be perceived; second, because any stumbling-block sends the reader scurrying back for a clue, back being the only place to go; third, because the correction made backwards via the proximate homologue creates the ghost or parallel text wherein tactically unacceptable) semantic allegiance can be vindicated (Riffaterre, 1978, p. 91).
b. Textual interpretant
The interpretant may be a textual sign. Instead of being symbolized by a
word referring to the text in which the reader is to find his hermeneutic clues, the
interpretant is a fragment of that text actually quoted in the poem it serves to
interpret (Riffaterre, 1978, p. 109). Textual interpretant leads the reader into the
further stage where reading involves external factors (beside the poem itself),
such as supporting text. Textual interpretant guides the reader in two ways. The
first, it helps him focus on intertextuality, especially on how the poem exemplifies
the type of intertextual conflict where two conflicting codes are present within its
boundaries. It can be said that interpretation to a poem could not do without the
understanding of social and cultural background of the poet, an important
contribution to guide the reader in understanding the deep meaning of the poem.
The second, the textual interpretant functions as the model for the hypogrammatic
derivation (Rifatterre, 1978, pp. 109-110). perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 23
C. Symbol
In Merriam Webster Dictionary, the term of symbol is derived from ballein
syn symbolon and Latin symbolum, which
means token, sign. Encyclopedia Britannica defines
element intended to simply represent or stand for a complex of person, object, group,
Symbol not only represents something literal and concrete but also a
complex set of abstract values.
Laurence Perrine (as cited in Fadaee, 2011, p. 20) states
something that means more than what it is. It is an object, a person, a situation, an
action, or some another item that has a literal meaning, but suggests or represents
Symbol is used by the poets to express feeling or thought and
increases the beauty of the text, it has not only figurative meaning but also literal
meaning. Symbol has further layers of meaning, maybe more than the writer
consciously intended.
In interpreting literary symbol, the important thing is the existence of general
concept of symbols which has stable and fixed meaning. Moreover, the understanding
ught. Laurence Perrine
(as cited in Fadaee, 2011, p. 20) states that symbolic phenomena can be identified by
the emergence of clue, such as repetition, emphasis or position . The meaning of
literary symbol is related to the fact inside the text which may be supported by the perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 24
existence of organizational features or printed text as the relevant information.
Symbol is different from metaphor and simile, the understanding does not contain a
comparison but by a virtue of association representingsomething more than itself.
In Pierce theory, symbol is a sign which its relation to object is based on
convention. Pierce explained that symbolhas unchangeable common meaning.
Moreover, conventional symbol is a symbol that has an understood or widely
accepted interpretation (http://english.tjc.edu/engl2307nbyr/symbolallegory.htm).For
example, a national flag is a symbol of country which may represent patriotism and
loyalty.On the other hand, personal symbolis an object which is invested with a
particular meaning by the poets. It
The characteristics of this symbol are fresh, new, and sometimes contrary to
conventional
symbol(http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/fitchf/readlit/symbol1.htm).As the result,
it is more difficult for the reader to recognize the meaning of this symbol. For
example, someone may represent a dog as a symbol of loyalty, but other use it as a
representation of fear and contemptibly.
A symbol that repeatedly emerges is not a reference of the various meaning,
but it stands as a replica of the same sign (Zoest, 1993, p. 25).As the characteristic,
symbol clearly relates to social aspects which force it to be more refined. Symbolis
represented that defined as an ongoing process of perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 25
attracting, touching, and convincing in understanding a sign which deliver an abstract
and complicated concept (Zoest, 1993, p. 27).
D. Symbols in Death Poems
Symbol is one of interesting poetic devices. The researcher thinks that symbol
stands above the other poetic devices.Symbol is broader and more ambiguous in
meaning (Guerin, 1996, p. 41). Symbol representsa value which is different from
those the thing being symbolized. Symbol frequently stands alone,
given little or no indication as to what is bein hadwick, 1971, p. 2).
Poems which are discussed in this donot
only talk about love and beautiful things but also dark and gloomy things. There are
many poets who choose death phenomenon as the theme of their poems. Moreover, it
can be seen as a special characteristic of them. Some poets such as, Emily Dickinson,
Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath, and Christina Rossetti are famous with their death
poems. Each poet has their own ways in representing various characteristics of death
in poems.
nd impossibilities of language
to evoke the experiences 91). The books of Emily
that she experienced several deaths of her relatives and
spent her times in mourning. Furthermore, the researcher assumes that through her
death poems Emily Dickinson wanted to share her dramatic perception of death. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 26
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary, the term perception means
the way someone notices things, especially with the senses, an idea or a belief or an
image someone has as a result of how someone sees or understands
something.According to the researcher, most of E
about her way of thinking to give respond and reaction in accepting death
phenomenon.
In her death poems, Emily Dickinson has her own ways in using and
constructing symbols. She uses various objects, such as animals, plants, seasons, and
places as symbols. In constructing symbols, she makes the transition process from
something real and clear to the level of obscure and confused (Chadwick, 1971, p. 4).
The transition process includes the uses of poetic structures which has the same area
of interest, such as image, figure of speech, and myth. For example, Emily Dickinson
in Tie the Strings to my Life, My Lord uses visual imagery Just a look at the
horses .
(Cirlot, 2001, p. 152).
In addition, the way Emily Dickinson uses and constructs symbols not only
emphasizes the essential part but also theinfluences in her death poems. Poets deal
with many aspects in their writing process. Moreover, the writing process could not
ible, perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 27
(VanSpanckeren, 1994, p. 35).Most of those works gives influences in some of Emily
E. Biography of Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst,
Massachusetts as the second daughter of Emily Nocross and Edward Dickinson.
Amherst is a small Calvinist village with the powerful Puritan traditions, about 2600
mostly strongly religious and orderly citizens. The Dickinson children; Emily, Austin
d under the
strong authorization of their father, a prominent lawyer who served as a U.S.
Congressman and as a treasurer ld
78). Emily Dickinson grows as an individualist with
a very sensitive soul, shy, withdrawn, unpublished, and unknown village woman
(VanSpanckeren, 1994, p. 35).
In 1840s, Emily Dickinson attended Amherst Academy and often spent her
time for few short trips, such as Philadelphia, Washington, and Boston. She continued
intelligent child who demanded intense relationships with school friends and family
2). In 1848, she returned to Amherst where she began
her life in seclusion. In 1850s, she began writing poem and her creative activity perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 28
reached a peak in 1862. After that year, she withdrew more and more into herself, and
eventually did not even go out of the home. Although, she never got married, she had
several significant relationships. There were two influential men; The Reverent
re
p.
1995, p.
The year of the greatest stress was 1855, when distance and danger threatened
in mourning because of several deaths; her father died in 1874, both Charles
bert died in 1883
(Martin, 2002, p. xiv-xv). All of those deaths influenced her work especially the
2002, p. 40).
Emily Dickinson wrote approximately 1,775 poems in letters that she sent to a
large circle of friends. As a prolific poet, ironically only ten of her poems appeared in
print during her life time. But, she was recognized as one of the most original
American poets in forty years after her death. Emily Dickinson died in Amherst at the
age of 56 on May 15, 1886. In 1955, Thomas H. Johnson published the definitive
poems in three volumes including all poems with
e arrangement
(VanSpanckeren, 1994, p. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 29
work and her life in American 3).
F. Frame of Thought
This research is directed to answer the research questions mentioned in
previous chapter. The research background
death poems.
are odd and abstract. The most intere
the symbolic signs which seemsto be difficult to be interpreted. Then, the researcher
formulates that assumption into research question a
Semiotic of Poetry.
The importance of symbolic sign clearly relates to social aspects which force
it to be refined in the process of interpretation. Symbols in poems have further layers
of meaning, maybe more than the writer consciously intended. Symbols are richer,
broader, more ambiguous in meaning, and even contradictory.
Riffaterre is used in this research based on three
arguments by the researcher. First, this theory focuses on poetry analysis, so that the
researcher can apply the whole theory to analyze the poems. Second, this theory is the
most representative tool to uncover symbolic signs that could be founded in the perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 30
poems. Third, this theory leads to social and cultural background analysis which
gives important contribution in the process of poemanalysis.
Accord
The meaning of poem is not delivered explicitly by the poet. This theory emphasizes
a significant character in poetry
includes reader oriented theory, a part of reception theory which stands as a
philosophical fundament in his theory. It starts from the first stage of reading or
hen, the concept of semiotic
arises in the second stage of reading or hermeneutic reading.
The intertextual decoding process includes the process of reference
understanding: finding the meaning of each symbol and tracing the social and cultural
background. In this part, the researcher could find the relation between symbol and its
convention.The most important element in . The
hypogrammatic derivation concept
that poetry is a work of art which is constructed from various related elements.
Hypograms Indirection
Poetry Signs perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 31
Symbol Meaning perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
CHAPTER III
ANALYSIS
semiotics theory. There are six poems of Emily Dickinson analyzed in this chapter.
The poems are:
1. Because I could not stop for Death
2. It was not death, for I stood up
3. I died for beauty, but was scarce
4.
5. How many times these low feet staggered
6. If I should die
The Poems of Emily Dickinson have no
title, so the researcher takes the first line of each poem as a substitute for the title.
This chapter is divided into two sub chapter. The first sub chapter analyses the
kinds of symbols. The second sub chapter analyses the way Emily Dickinson
constructs symbols in her death poems. This is based on the research questions in the
first chapter of this research. Then, the analysis of this research is based on two stages
of reading composed by Riffaterre. They are heuristic and hermeneutic reading.
31 perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 32
A.
1. Because I could not stop for Death
BECAUSE I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility.
We passed the school, where children strove At recess, in the ring; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun.
We paused before a house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound.
Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses' heads Were toward eternity.
(Emily Dickinson, poem num. XXVII, p. 190)
a. Heuristic Reading
In this poem, the an as
important signs are not the beginning of a
sentence but Dickinson writes those words with capital letter. She shows the
with other words in this poem. It perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 33
indicates that there is certain purpose created by the poet. This typography leads the
readers to find the keywords in understanding this poem.
In the first as the
keywords is a something cliché. There are so many poets use those terms as the main
t become interesting topic
that people always talk about. As long as hu
can be said as never-ending-topics.
There is another sign in this poem tha Because I
in the form of
personification shows the process of displacing meaning created by the poet. The
reader could find two implied meaning from those lines. First, the speaker shows her
. Se is a kind
man.
In the third stanza, Dickinson uses repetition as another important sign of this
is repeated three times. It helps the reader to
understand that there is press of meaning created by the poet. Moreover, the
repetition continued by the school/where children
the sett . It
convinces the reader that to continue the process of interpretation they should find the
meaning of those things. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 34
we paused before a house that seemed/a swelling
shows in form of simile. Furthermore, the uses of semicolon (;) in the
end of that line indicates the process of creating meaning. The semicolon (;) connects
we paused before a house that seemed/a
and to give a
There is a contradiction
and yet eac can be seen as a paradox. In addition,
Dickinson creates I f .
This is how Dickinson produces distorting meaning to express indirection in her
poem.
b. Hermeneutic Reading
The readers find the deeper meaning of this poem through the several sign
that emerge in the first stage of reading. Dickinson shows that the typographies of
lead the reader to find the basic idea of this poem. The
term in in the poem is a something cliché. This is
how people in general dream about immortality but face the death as a reality.
Dickinson describes that the s
. Dickinson shows the uses of static concept that has been understood
by society. It can be said as a static concept because there is no changing perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 35
un . Most of scientific
approaches and belief systems emphasize that death is an unavoidable fact. On the
other hand, immortality is something that people wants deep inside their minds. It is
something that they dream of, which is absolutely impossible to be a reality.
ecause I cou He kindly
as the model. Model explains the main topic being discussed in the
poem. The main topic
to imagine the character or
manner of the matrix. The model as an
unavoidable man who could make the speaker receives all of his treatment
defenselessly. In the second stanza, Dickinson shows how the speaker receives
manner.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility.
can be interpreted as a symbol. Commonly, death
represents the end of time relates to destruction and sadness. Ferber (2007) states that
death may symbolize something else, but usually represented symbolically as a
person (p. 54). In the poem nu death is the supple perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 36
(Ferber, 2007, p. 56). At a glance, those lines give similar idea
with model and matrix that being discussed above.
indicates the uses of
personal symbol which associates wit
Dickinson is unmarried until the end of her life. As a general assumption, it is caused
(Benfey, 2002, p. 40). Furthermore, Dickinson experiences several deaths of her
(Martin, 2002, p. xiv-xv). This is why she decides to spend the rest of her life in
seclusion.
thought. It creates an assumption that Dickinson spends the rest of her life not only
waiting for her death but also her lover. This explanation shows that the
understanding of social and cultural background of the poet helps the reader in
understanding the meaning of personal symbol of the poem.
In the third stanza, Dickinson uses repetition as the simplest form of
expansion. Expansion is a process of text production. Repetition is a sign which
indicates the emoti is an expression of
remembrance. In this poem, they pa the school where
. The term perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 37
of life.
As the first stage, they passed the school and the children. The child stands as
a symbol of the future (Cirlot, 2001, p. 45). The child symbolizes the start of life and
the view of the future. In the second stage, the gazing grain symbolizes the life itself.
In the Greek word sitos meant grain or bread. In English, the meaning extends into
while to be alive is to eat bread
(Ferber, 2007, p. 35). In the third stage, they passed the setting sun. According to
Homer, life is when someone sees the light. On the other hand, death is when
someone must leave the light of the sun (Ferber, 2007, p. 209). Moreover,
Fr f James
209). All of those symbols are called as conventional
symbol that can be easily found in the dictionary of symbols. Conventional symbols
have the unchangeable common meaning which is commonly used in several sources.
In the fourth stanz we paused before a house
that s to tell the reader that a grave can be seen as a
house. As a form of comparison, she wants to say that people live in a house and
death people should live in a grave. Furthermore, the description of grave as a house
continued by the uses of semicolon (;). The semicolon connects those lines with the perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 38
which give a
clearer description about the h the
corn
She emphasizes that grave can be a house for death people. In this part, Dickinson
shows that she feels comfortable in facing the death.
Dickinson creates a paradox through Since then 'tis centuries, and
yet in the last stanza. She reveals the length of time
I f is an example of ambiguity.
m which is extremely complex and not clearly
defined. In Germany and England, to dream of a white horse was thought to be an
omen of death. In other place, a pair of horses (white and black) imprecisely
represents life and death (Cirlot, 2001, p. 152). Secondl leads
seen as the revelation of the speaker in this poem. The speaker finds that death is not
the end of the story, but she continues the story toward eternity.
In sum, Dickinson wants to give an alternative point of view for the readers
through this poem. She reveals a n as her
personal symbol. However, the uses of conventional symbols such as child, grain, sun
and horse give significant contribution to support the unity of her thought in this perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 39
poem. Dickinson shows her calm acceptance of death. Death is not something evil
and scared. Death is a part of the stages of life which should be passed in finding the
eternity.
2. It was not death, for I stood up
IT was not death, for I stood up, And all the dead lie down; It was not night, for all the bells Put out their tongues, for noon.
It was not frost, for on my flesh I felt siroccos crawl, Nor fire, for just my marble feet Could keep a chancel cool.
And yet it tasted like them all; The figures I have seen Set orderly, for burial, Reminded me of mine,
As if my life were shaven And fitted to a frame, And could not breathe without a key; And 't was like midnight, some,
When everything that ticked has stopped, And space stares, all around, Or grisly frosts, first autumn morns, Repeal the beating ground.
But most like chaos, stopless, cool, Without a chance or spar, Or even a report of land To justify despair.
(Emily Dickinson, poem num. LXXV, p. 215) perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 40
a. Heuristic Reading
At a glance, this poem tells about incomprehensible feeling which relates to
the sense of depression. This poem starts with which does not refer to
process of interpretation. It can be seen as a riddle that is created by the poet to attract
the curiosity of the reader.
Dickinson in the first and second stanza.
She did not describe the real condition of her feeling, instead she describes the
opposite condition of her real feeling. This contradiction is a form of distorting
meaning which is created by the po , is
fol
indicate the same meaning. It shows
that the poet wants to emphasize her intention through the uses of repetition and
metaphor.
In the first stanza, the line It was not night, for all the bells/put out their
shows the process of displacing and distorting meaning in the
for all is a form of
personification which combines with the for
. In the second stanza, the same style
siroccos indicates the uses of personification while the meaning of perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 41
could not be found in some of English dictionary. The next line is a form of
paradox which is used .
In the third stanza, Dickinson starts to give a direct description of her burial
feeling through t A
The figures I have seen/set orderly, give a powerful
statement which influences the r
leads the imagination of the readers to find the sense of depression through the line
as if my life were shaven/and fitted to a frame/and .
However, the form of simile
becomes a turning point for the readers to rem
.
Dickinson shows the process of creating meaning through the uses of
alliteration in the fifth sp
in the third line. In the last stanza, simile
most like chaos, stopless/cool, . It can be seen as an important sign which helps
the process of interpretation. However, the uses of dashes indicate certain meaning
created by the poet which seems to be difficult to interpret. This is how indirection is
produced by creating meaning process in a poem.
In this poem, Dickinson delivers a sense of confusion in t
Dickinson gives an unclear description is
repeated three times but there is no clear answer about what is being discussed in this perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 42
poem. Dickinson gives signs th
. All of those things belong in the And yet it
in the third stanza is a simile w
and all of those things. Dickinson wants to reveal her incomprehensible feeling which
has . Therefore, the matrix of
or it can be said as unclear object. The model of the matrix leads the
.
b. Hermeneutic Reading
In the second stage of reading,
are deeper. The words not only emerge as a form of
metaphor but also as a form of symbol. In the
poetry or ice has been defined as the
dividing line between consciousness and unconsciousness which relates to the
d (Cirlot, 2001, p. 156). Moreover, in the tradition of
has the same significance as night and black (Cirlot, 2001, p. 228)
As the answer represents the death itself. This
statement is supported by the series of simile and clear description of burial created
by the poet in the t A in the
third stanza starts the description of the experience of
in the fourth stanza becomes a turning point for the reader to think
back . Moreover, the circumstance of death perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 43
and And could not breathe
gives strong sense of hopelessness. In addition, the
has sig refers to the threshold of
the unconscious. It can be seen as a tool which is used to open the gates of death to
immortality (Cirlot, 2001, pp. 167- represents a feeling of death which
seems to be unrealized by the speaker of this poem. In line It was not death, for I
, the speaker believes that it was not a feeling of death because she stood up.
Therefore, the readers must interpret which object belongs to dead object in the
poem.
Dickinson creates the series of contradiction in a form of paradox which
distorts the meaning of this poem. Automatically, it influences the process of
interpretation of the reader. For exampl
in the first st is identical with death and
darkness. On the
is anatole or (Ferber,
2007, p. 68). This kind of style occurs in the second stanza when Dickinson uses the
and . Fire symbolizes any kinds of passion, warmth of feeling and
human life itself (Ferber, 2007, p. 75).
which contains the sense of unconsciousness. The series of contradiction created by
the poet actually refers to the same in a form
of personification indicate certain m Bells with its sounds is a symbol of perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 44
power. Since it is in a hanging position, it creates mystic relations with all objects
between heaven and earth (Cirlot, 2001, p. 24).
In this part, the reader could find the answer of the second riddle created by
the poet. It is about the object that belongs to dead object in the poem. The answer is
the soul. Dickinson creates a contradiction between l to
make a connection between heaven and earth. As the important finding, she
emphasizes that human body lives on the earth while human soul relates to the
heaven.
In the fifth stanza, Dickinson creates alliteration which indicates the
occurrence of symbol. The line When everything that ticked has stopped/and space
stares/all around/or grisly frosts/first autumn offers
a implies the sound of mourning that
ca has two meanings: the satisfaction of the
harvest in summer
. This is the time when
all of things seem - in the evening scene
(Ferber, 2007, p. 17).
In ge death.
to produce alliteration in the process
of creating meaning. The uses of those objects can be seen as the occurrence of perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 45
personal symbol. According to Dickinson, the strongest sense of mourning does not
In the last two stanzas, Dickinson creates the maximum sense of despair. The
speaker realizes the death of her soul but time is stopped. This is the worse condition
of the speaker when there are no hope and salvation. The incomprehensible feeling of
the speaker extends into sadness, despair and finally emptiness. In the sixth stanza,
Dickinson us stopless/cool, which is
combined with dashes. The uses of dashes interrupt the meaning of that line.
causes confusion of the reader. Therefore, punctuation is ignored by the readers.
In conclusion, Dickinson creates a description of someone or maybe her own
self who experience the death of soul. It happens when someone feels the sense of
death while their body still exists. Dickinson uses six kinds of conventional symbols
such as night, frost, noon, bell, fire and autumn. However, she
as her personal symbol. In this poem, night and frost have the similar meaning. In
addition, noon and fire stand in the same area of meaning. The death of soul always
relates to sadness and despair. People in general could feel this kind of feeling. There
are several things which can be seen as the causes of the death of soul such as failure,
rejection, loneliness and disappointment. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 46
3. I died for beauty, but was scarce
I DIED for beauty, but was scarce Adjusted in the tomb, When one who died for truth was lain In an adjoining room. He questioned softly why I failed?
the two are one; We And so, as kinsmen met a night, We talked between the rooms, Until the moss had reached our lips, And covered up our names
(Emily Dickinson, poem num. X, p. 180)
a. Heuristic Reading
in that line implies two different meaning. First, it means the cause of.
Second, i . The readers need to continue the reading
process to find another signs which could give clearer explanation for that ambiguity.
In the first stanza,the becomes an important sign
which indicates an allusion. In addition, Dickinson uses a predictable metaphor
in line four. However, the word
in line three indicates the sense of nothingness at the
same time. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 47
In this poem, there are two speakers talking about the reason of their deaths.
In this conversation, Dickinson creates a euphemism through the usage of the word
. As the conclusion,
becomes the reason of the Dickinson describesthe relation of
through the uses of dash in the two are one/we brethren
.
In the last stanza, Dickinson creates an affirmation of the relation between the
t in the
third stanza have the similar meaning. Moreover, the use gives a
clear contribution in creating the circumstance of death. Dickinson gives several signs
which helps the process of analysis.
First, there is a change in the first and second
in the third stanza. Second, it is a repetitive description
created by the poet.In this part, the scene of the conversation makes the readers feel
the moment of forgetting that they are dead.
Dickinson declares the great ending Until the
moss had reached our lips/and covered up . This line becomes a reminder
for the reader to realize t to the scene of
conversation between the spe to create a perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 48
such as room, tomb, mouth or maybe body.
b. Hermeneutic Reading
The conversation in the second stanza is the model which indicates the
essential idea of this poem. Dickinson emphasizes that each of the speaker has certain
reason of their deaths, there are .
He questioned softly why I failed?
the two are one;
beauty and truth become the speak .
In this poem, Dicki as the reason of
death. Therefore, the matrix of this poem is beauty and truth.
The in this poem is an allusion. It reminds the reader
created by John Keats. In his
phrase, Keats concludes an important statement about the eternity of art.
that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
He emphasizes that human should see the beauty of an object as the truth. They do
not need to look beyond the image itself. However, the eternal beauty of an object perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 49
relates to the eternity which could not be reached by human. In conclusion, the beauty
is enough for human. Beauty is the only truth that could be reached by human.
In this part, is considered as the hypogram. In fact,
is beauty and
truth. indicates that Dickinson is influenced by
Keats . This poem seems to be the continuation
In the first stanza, Dickinson creates a description about the reason of her
death in l I . Dickinson emphasizes that her death
is different from the death of common people. Dickinson affirms her death as
something precious. She wants to get the eternal beauty which could not be reached
by human. The eternal beauty is more than what human see on their eyes. It is higher
than the beauty of an image. to affirm her
statement.
Moreover, Dickinson cr When one who died
to support her statement. She believes that no one will die for truth.
Truth is a beauty which exists in this world and everybody could see it. In this stanza,
Dickinson creates the circumstance of death
. It is a form of metaphor which can be e
is a symbol of the body. It symbolizes the process of transformation and unconscious
(Cirlot, 2001, p. 344). perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 50
circumstance of death. She creates the scene of conversation between the two
speakers. She uses the wo rather than died which is an example of
euphemism. Euphemism is an understanding of the effect of a statement. The word
becomes the s
the circumstance of death.
Dickinson expresses her indirection through the process of creating meaning.
She uses dash as a sign which informs the
can be seen as a
unity. More to describe the
. In fact, beauty and truth are the representation of
art.
In this to represent the death.
can be seen as the representation of
life. This line indicates the sense of hope to continue the conversation into eternity.
As the ending, Dickinson creates a great statement which becomes the revelation of
this poem. The line until the moss had reached our lips/and covered up our
leads the reader to realize the reality. The reality is the death itself. In this perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 51
poem, Dickinson describes the important of beauty and truth. She emphasizes that
human ought to seek them out and live and die for them.
Dickinson describes that the moss covered the lips and the names. The word
clearly relates to the scene of conversation. rather than
the other possible objects such as tomb, room, mouth and body to end up her poem. It
creates strong personal effect in can be seen
as an identity for someone. For example, the name of the dead body carved in a
tombstone. In the Egyptians idea, name relates to the character and destiny of
someone. As the power of words, name is the reflection of soul which could have a
magical effect upon someone (Cirlot, 2001, p. 226). In this poem, Dickinson uses
as the representation of death. The moss has a power which could end up the
effectiveness of human.
To sum up, Dickinson uses two kinds of conventional symbols, they are: tomb
and name. This poem can be seen as an irony. If someone died for truth, it means
there is no truth in the human life. There is no truth means there is no beauty which
is created by human. It means that something wrong happens in this humanity.
How e is to create beauty through the art and creation. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 52
4.
As lately as today. I know it by the numb look Such houses have always.
The neighbours rustle in and out, The doctor drives away. A window opens like a pod, Abrupt, mechanically;
Somebody flings a mattress out, The children hurry by; They wonder if It died on that, I used to when a boy.
The minister goes stiffly in As if the house were his, And he owned all the mourners now, And little boys besides;
And then the milliner, and the man Of the appalling trade, To take the measure of the house.
Of tassels and of coaches soon;
The intuition of the news In just a country town.
(Emily Dickinson, poem num. CXXX, p. 243)
a. Heuristic Reading perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 53
This poem tells about the man who sees a scene of mourning in the opposite
house. The man says that someone has died in the house across the road. In this
poem, Dickinson chooses the man asa witness in that scene of mourning. Dickinson
uses I know it by the numb look .This line explains that the
sad face of people indicates the event of death.
give more explanation about the characteristics of death
itself.The characteristics of death used by Dickinson in this poem are cliché. Death is
something common, continuous and noticeable.
I t
are easy to interpret. Those lines occur as cliché. the
neighbours describes the custom in the society. It is about giving
respect and condolence to the deceased and the family.
is a confirmation of the death.
is a simile which represents the death. The indicates the
customfor someone who passed away relates to the nature.
It abrupt, m which indicates the power of
nature.
In the next stanza, Dickinson describes that the activity in that house still are
someb is a custom which informs that
someone just passed away in that mattress. Therefore, the family members start to perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 54
clean the mattress. Dickinson describes that the children run to pass the house and the
mattress. It is a scary experience to imagine someone has died on that mattress. The
man said that he used to do the same as a young boy. In this stanza, Dickinson uses
capitalization in the word to represent the deceased.
Dickinson creates an irony the minister goes stiffly in/as if the house
were his/and he owned all the mourne .The Minister
arrived and took control of the situation as well as the mourners in that house.It seems
that the minister as the representation of religion has an authority to control anything
in that house. It indicates that religion is the main protection when people are
experiencing terror and fear of the death.
In the fifth stanza, Dickinson describes that there is a milliner or hat-maker
who prepares the attire of the deceased the man of the appalling trade/to
take the measure of the house can be seen as the undertaker who prepares the coffin.
It can be seen as an irony. Dickinson describes that the work of undertaker is
dreadful. However, the skill of undertaker is definitely needed in this kind of
situation.
Dickinson tells about the funer
parade/of tassels and of coaches soon . indicates the scene of
funeralwhen the mourners dressed in black. or the
o which means the use of horse and carriage. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 55
states that all of those things can be seen as obvious
signs inthe event of death.Dickinson uses dash to inform the important message of
this poem. the intuition of the news/in just a country town tells how the
people understand the event of death.
b. Hermeneutic Reading
Dickinson uses the been a death in the opposite house/as lately
I know it by the numb look as the model
which indicates the topic of this poem. The main topic being discussed in the poem is
the event of death. Therefore, the matrix of this poem is the event of death. The
model leads the reader to understand the characteristics of the event of death. The
model leads the reader to describe the event of death as something common,
continuous and noticeable Thisis how Dickinson uses a cliché in
her poem. In general, people believe that the event of death is an inevitable fact for all
human lives. It is an ordinary event which happens continuously. It is a simple truth
that can be seen through the manner of people in responding that event.
In the next stanzas, Dickinson shows several evidenceswhich seem to be a
verificationof that description. In this poem, there are several evidences which
indicate the event of death. All of those evidencesconvince the reader to believe that
the event of death is something common, continuous and
life.The series of evidences are: perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 56
First, Dickins I know it by the numb look/such
.It explains that the numb look indicates the event of death which
relates to fear, sadness and despair. There is a numb atmosphere surrounds that house
which is caused by the death. It relates to the numb face of the mourners in that
house.
Moreover, that line indicates something cliché. The event of death happens
continuously in a house. House relates to the material world where life and death are
closely tied up to each other. In symbolism, house is a feminine aspect of the universe
and the repository of all wisdom which relates to the tradition. House or home has
spontaneous associations with life including the human body and human thought
(Cirlot, 2001, p. 153).
Second, Di the neighbours rustle in and
. In the past, a simple funeral is organized by families, friends and neighbors. It
was a popular custom in American society. This is how people show their respect and
care for the deceased (Schvaneveldt, 1989, p. 1). the doctor drives away is a
cliché. In general, a patient with serious ill is intensively treated by under close care
of a doctor. Therefore, can be seen as a scene of
losing hope. It seems to be a confirmation that the death are truly happens.
Third, the custom. People
usually open the windows in the house of the deceased. It means to allow the spirit to perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 57
escape. The process of escaping the spirit from a house through windows is to
confuse the spirit. It is important to keep the spirit away from its families and friends
(Untiedt, 2008, p. 6). Moreover, it relates to the shape of window which consists of
apertures. The window and the apertures imply the meaning of distance. It is also
symbol of consciousness (Cirlot, 2001, p. 373).
which relates to the nature. The line
seems like an analogy. Automatically, the pod is burst out when it is
ripe enough. It is similar with the scene of people who open the windows because
someonedied in a house.In addition, the line explains that all of
those things happen automatically. It seems like a machine. In this part, Dickinson
emphasizes about the power of nature which organizes anything including death.
Fourth, t some is a custom. It
informs that someone just passed away in that mattress. Therefore, the family
member brings the mattress out to clean the germ which is carried by the deceased.It
can be seen as a custom which prevents the spirit to come back to its mattress and
into the house (Untiedt, 2008, p. 6). the children hurry by/they wonder if It
clearly states thatseeing the mattress is dreadful for the children. It
becomes a scary experience because they see and imagine that someone died on that
mattress. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 58
Fifth, Dickinson creates an irony the minister goes stiffly in/as if the
house were his/and he owned all the mourners now/and little boys besides . The
minister has an important role in the event of death. The minister is the person who
performs and takes charge of the prayer for the deceased. In this part, Dickinson
shows that the minister as the representation of religion who has an authority to
control anything in that house. Dickinson shows the ultimate power of religion which
could control anything. Religion can be seen as a place where people getthe serenity
of life and release their fear of death.
Sixth, the milliner is one of important element in the event of death. It directly
relates to the deceased which becomes the central point in the funeral procession. It is
important to prepare the appearance of the deceased. The milliner and dressmaker
prepare the attires which reflect the status and the characteristics of the
deceased(Patkin, 2008, p. 166).
Seventh, t the man of the appalling trade/to take the measure of the
can be seen as the undertaker who prepares the coffin. Coffin is a status
symbol. The earliest coffinsaremade of stone which could preserve the deceased from
resurrection. For the poor, a coffin is used only to transport the deceased to the grave
site. Moreover, the first European Americans had no coffins, but they were wrapped
by cerecloth. For the rich, the newest models of coffinswhich aremade of lead,
wooden and fiberglass aremore preferable (Untiedt, 2008, p. 7).However, Dickinson perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 59
creates an irony in those lines. Although, the service of undertaker is one of important
element in the event of deat
dreadful.
Eighth, d indicates the scene of funeral procession. It happens
when the mourners dressed in black and marched. In symbolism, black relates to
death and other negative things. Therefore, black is one of the proper mourning attire
in several places. As the color of death and mourning, black has been adopted by
Christians as a sign of death in this world(Ferber, 2007, p. 28).The dark parade
consists of tass or the ornaments of death. It includes which means the
use of horse and carriage.
In the end of this poem, Dickinson states that all of those things can be seen as
signs. All of this signs are useful to spread the death news in a neighborhood.
Dickinson emphasizes that this is what happens in a country town. It is about people
who use their senses and intuition to understand the condition of their society.
In conclusion, Dickinson describes eight evidences which indicate the event
of death. She describes that the event of death is common, continuous and noticeable
in people daily life. Dickinson uses four kinds of conventional symbols such as
house, window, coffin and black. In this poem, Dickinson emphasizes that death is a
cultural event. She describes how people practice their customs and traditions in perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 60
responding the death. Moreover, it can be seen as an important historical
understanding for people who study social and cultural subject.
5. How many times these low feet staggered
How many times these low feet staggered, Only the soldered mouth can tell; Try! can you stir the awful rivet? Try! can you lift the hasps of steel?
Stroke the cool forehead, hot so often, Lift, if you can, the listless hair; Handle the adamantine fingers Never a thimble more shall wear.
Buzz the dull flies on the chamber window; Brave shines the sun through the freckled pane; Fearless the cobweb swings from the ceiling Indolent Housewife, in Daisies lain!
(Emily Dickinson, poem num. XI, p. 181)
a. Heuristic Reading
At a glance, this poem tells about the corpse of a housewife. The first line of
how many can be seen as a clue for the
readers
clearly refers to the corpse. In this poem, Dickinson not only describes the
outlook but also the story behind the corpse.
However, Dickinson did not clearly explain about the story of that corpse. She
The line perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 61
only sold is a form of paradox. In fact,
cannot tell anything. In other words, there is no story about the housewife to share to
the readers.
In the first stanza, Dickinson delivers her intention through the uses of
repetiti . It is followed by the
which seems like giving a challenge for t
contain ambiguity. First, it describes the
hardship of the readers who wants to know about the story of the corpse. Second,
those lines are the representation of the story behind the corpse.
In the second stanza, Dickinson clearly describes about the outlook of the
stroke the cool
e also
lift, if you can, . handle
the adamantine fingers/ contains dramatic expression
which attracts sentimental feeling of the readers.
buzz the du
can be seen as a cliché. Fly is one of arthropods which regularly appear in
inson creates imagery in brave shines the sun through
fearless the
actually have similar meaning which in
intention. At the end of this poem, Dickinson uses euphemism and capitalization in perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 62
line Indolent Housewife, in Daisies lain! which clearly represents
corpse.
b. Hermeneutic Reading
how many these low feet stagg becomes the
interpretation. It seems like an early awareness for the readers about the tone of this
poem. Therefore, the matrix is hardship. However, this poem tells about the death of
a housewife. As the result, the model is the hardship of a housewife which could be
released by death. It can be seen as a critical expression. In this poem, Dickinson
death.
how many
indicates the tone. From this line, the readers could feel the sense of hardship which
relates to the corpse. This line guides the reader to imagine the hardship of a
housewife during her lifetime.Moreover, the readers can conclude that the hardship
relates to the role of a housewife who should handle a lot of housework.
Dicki . In
symbolism, the mouth stands for the power of speech and relates to the creative
power. According to René Guénon, the mouth represents integral consciousness
(Cirlot, 2001, pp.221-222).In this part, Dickinson declares that there is no story about
uld be shared to the readers. In fact, the housewife
who experiences the hardship is already died. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 63
contains the sense of
frustration for the readers who wants to know about the housewife. Dickinson creates
imag to describe the
hardship of the readers. The hardship of the readers relates to the scene of frustration
when the readers should ask question to a corpse. In the same time, those lines can be
seen as
might not be able to behandled by others.
I stroke the cool
forehead, hot become the contrastive things. It can be seen as the
representati
is full of hardship. It describes the . In contrast,
the word represents release which implies comfort and peacefulness. In this
part, Dickinson describes that death can be seen as a savior who saves the housewife
from her hardship.
Dic lift, if you can, . The word
dramatizes the hair symbolizes grief or mourning
in classical literature. As a widespread belief, hair is an expression of life, youth,
strength, or fertility (Ferber, 2007, pp. 91-92). Therefore, Dickinson creates the
to describe the death. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 64
Moreover, Dickinson creates dramatic expression
. According to Merriam Webster
Dictionary is a pitted cap or cover worn on the finger to push the needle in
sewing to remind the readers that sewing can be seen
fascicle manuscripts (Martin, 2002, p. 6). Fascicle means a small bundle. Therefore,
the readers could imagine that Dickinson sews the sheet to make her fascicle
manuscripts.
In buzz the dull flies on the
can be seen as a cliché. Fly is an object which regularly appears in
death poems. Rutledge (2003) states that
fly, gnat, midge, worm (maggot) and malaria appear in 21 poems of 1775 poems
written by Dickinson (p. 72). Fly can be seen as a symbol of death which relates to
the decomposition process of organism.
Dickinson crea brave shines the sun through the freckled
fearless the to draws the condition of a
which contains the idea of creation and development. However, the center of cobweb
symbolizes death, evil, destruction and other negative aspects of the universe (Cirlot,
2001, p. 21). Those lines indicate that no one is responsible to clean the houseafter perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 65
the death of the housewife. Therefore, those lines not only indicate the important role
of a housewife but also describe the hardship of her.
As the ending, Dicki Indolent Housewife, in
Daisies
work The Legend of Good Women describes daisy as a good woman, but otherEnglish
poets often mention daisy without a consistent symbolism (Ferber, 2007, p. 50). In
brief, Dickinson characterizes the housewife as a good and innocent womanthrough
. Furthermore, it is a confirmation for the readers that the
housewife is not lazy, but she is died. Dickinson tells to the readers that death could
save the housewife from her hardship.
To sum up, Dickinson uses three kinds of conventional symbol such as mouth,
hair and cobweb. However, fly and daisy areconsidered as personal symbol in
from her hardship and torture. Therefore, this poem can be seen as an irony.
Moreover, she criticizes the custom which overburdens the housewife with a lot of
housework. From this poem, Dickinson emphasizes that people should understand
and appreciate the work of a housewife.
6. If I should die
IF I should die, And you should live, And time should gurgle on, And morn should beam, And noon should burn, perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 66
As it has usual done; If birds should build as early, And bees as bustling go,-- One might depart at option From enterprise below! ks will stand When we with daisies lie, That commerce will continue, And trades as briskly fly. It makes the parting tranquil And keeps the soul serene, That gentlemen so sprightly Conduct the pleasing scene!
(Emily Dickinson, poem num. LXVII, p. 211)
a. Heuristic Reading
The if I should die persuades the reader to think about
death. As the effect, the reader creates an assumption that the tone of this poem is
sad. They imaginesadnesscaused by the death. In fact, this poem tells about positive
perspective on death which evokesblissful and peaceful feeling.
The lines if I are the interesting part of this
poem. In this part, Dickinson shows a contrast. She creates the scene of separation by
describing someone which should die and another one which should live. Therefore,
those lines support the tone of sadness that derives by the title of this poem.
Moreover, Dickinson gives a surprise to the readers throughseries of imagery
in lines and time should gurgle on/and morn should beam/and noon should burn/as it perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 67
. All of those lines areseries of signs which indicate the real tone of
this poem. From those lines, the readers will realize that the tone of this poem is not
sad, but calm and peaceful.
T is a personification thatmakes the
readers realize the meaning of their life gratefully. The
is a form of imagery. Dickinson clearly tells the readers that everyone has a choice
to live their life one might depart .Moreover,
she creates an analogy between world and enterprise. in
lines e with da
supports her analogy. She also creates a contrast between the words .
T that commerce will continue/and trades
relates to Dic However, the objects daisi
are regularly used by Dickinson.
In the last stanza, Dickinson creates a confirmation about the meaning of this
poem. The lines it makes the parting tranquil/and keeps the soul serene clearly
represent the core meaning of this poem. Dickinson describes the intention of this
which indicates death.However, t
have similar meaning. The that
gentlemen so sprig supports conclusion
which states that death as a pleasing scene. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 68
b. Hermeneutic Reading
In this poem, Dickinson seems like to She
creates the sense of sadness which is caused by if I should die/and you
. However, she creates a shifting tone which surprises the readers in lines
and time should gurgle on/and morn should beam/and noon should burn/as it has
. Therefore, the first and the second lines of this poem become the model
which explains the main topic that being discussed.
The main topic of this poem is death. Hence, the matrix is death. Moreover,
the third until the sixth lines of this poem become the model which leads the reader to
find the nature of death.In brief, it is about a positive perspective on death. Dickinson
emphasizes that she accepts death in calm way. She describes that when death comes
to her, it could not change anything. In fact, this universe will run as usual. In this
poem, Dickinson represents death as natural life cycle.
Furthermore, is one of great poems created by Dickinson. It
unordinary way of thinking. There are some differences in the
between Dickinson and other poets. For example, although
Dickinson and Rossetti grow in the same era (romanticism to realism), but they have
different ways in deliveringtheir ideas through a death poem.
When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me; Plant thou no roses at my head, perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 69
Nor shady cypress tress: Be the green grass above me With showers and dewdrops wet; And if thou wilt, remember, And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows, I shall not feel the rain; I shall not hear the nightingale Sing on, as if in pain: And dreaming through the twilight That doth not rise nor set, Haply I may remember, And haply may forget.
mous poem. This poem
in another way. Rossetti talks about death that separates her and her
lover. In this poem, Rossetti creates a direct relation between death and love.
Moreover, the readers can find that Rossetti feels defenseless and confuse. This poem
indicates that death causes an uncertain relation between Rossetti and her lover.
Rossetti said that maybe they will remember each other when somedaydeath comes to
her.
The If When I am dead, my
. Both poems are literary products from romanticism to realism era which
contains full of indirect expression. Both poems are did not define death in explicit
way, but rather to play on sequence of images and symbols using language.
According to their era, both poets did not create explicit explanation but lead the
imagination into general concept of beauty . perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 70
Rossetti creates the sad tone from the first .
It indicates that to separate with the dearest one is sadness. It can be seen as a cliché.
In fact, many poets in previous era use this repetitive idea. It is easy for the readers to
guess the flow and the meaning of this poem. Moreover, Rossetti usesnegative
sing no sad songs for me/plant thou no roses at my head/nor shady
which support the sad tone of this poem. She also uses repetition in
I shall not see the shadows/I shall not feel the rain/I shall not hear the
nightingale which not only support the tone of this poem but also indicatesless
variationin
In this poem, there are several objects that can be seen as symbols, such as
roses, cypress, shadows, rain, nightingale and twilight. In brief, all of them are
conventional symbols. There are no object
poems or detected as her personal symbols. Rossetti uses those symbols to represent
love, beautifulness, wealth and goodness which disappear because of death. She also
uses twilight to symbolize confusion and uncertainty caused by death.
In contrast, Dickinson describes death in a different way. In fact, the readers
could not easily guess the f . Dickinson
describes that her death does not affect anything. Therefore, the universe runs as
usual. and time should gurgle on/and morn should
beam/and noon s give comprehension to the readers
about the can be seen as the most consistent perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 71
things in this universe. It is the main element thatrepresents the run of this universe
which could not be controlled by human. almost have
similar meaning. It represents the start of life which is full of spirit and passion.
Dickinson creates personification in line if birds should build as early/and
bees as bustling go . It is because of bird frequently used to symbolize human soul
(Cirlot, 2001, p. 28). which regularly o
poems can be seen not only as a symbol of soul but also creative power (Cirlot, 2001,
p. 24). In this part, the readers will realize that
true. In fact, anim human character. The life of a
human is more valuably rather than the life of an animal. Hence, people shouldbe
grateful with their life and they donot need to feel sad with death.
Furthermore, Dickinson shows her intelligence through her analogy and
dictions. She states that world seems like an enterprise.She also uses the word
, to support her analogy. In brief, the world should
run as an enterprise which struggles to get profit and refuses bankruptcy. In this part,
it can be seen t o create broader meaning. In
conclusion, it may causes
To sum up, is a death poem that does not containnegative
sentences which indicate sadness and despair. In this poem, there is no gloomy
dramatization of death. Precisely, Dickinsoncreates positive sentences which indicate perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 72
spirit and passion of life. Dickinson uses five kinds of conventional symbols, such as
time, morn, noon, bird and bees. However, indicate the
occurrence of personal symbols. It is because those symbols are frequently used in
Dickinson
death. As a part of natural life cycle, death can be defeated byhuman. Therefore, it
would be better to receive death in calm and peaceful way.
B. The Way Emily Dickinson Constructs Symbols in Her Death Poems
This second sub chapteragain analyzes the uses of symbols in Emily
Semiotics of Poetry. However,
the difference is that the first sub chapter applies the theory directly to find the kinds
of symbols inside the poems, while this second sub chapter explainsthe constructions
of symbols which are created by the poet inside the poem to build the unity of
meaning.
In Semiotics of Poetry, the first stage is how the poet delivers the
meaning inside the poemto the readers from the very first time when they read the
poem. This is commonly kn . It occurs in the heuristic
reading level. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 73
Dickinson is a poet in the era of romanticism to realism.In her poems, she
maximally usesindirect expressions, implicit explanations and sequence of images
and symbols. Her poems lead the r
beauty . Moreover, her style ca high language which
represents poetry as something beautiful and abstract to understand.
Dickinson expressions constant theory which
states that poetry expresses indirection. Indirection is produced by displacing,
distorting and creating meaning
poems.It relates to connotative language which needs a deeper contemplation and
imagination in creating it. In fact, Dickinson did not totally show the conventional
understanding on poetry which states that something should have a deep meaning.
Instead, she added something meaningless and even the real condition of her personal
life into her poems.
For example, is used in poem Because I
could not stop fo .
BECAUSE I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 74
The because I could not stop for death/he kin are
personification which becomes one of the techniques . It can
be seen that not all the readers will easily understand her intention through those
lines. The readers will think about two things. First, death emerges as a man. Second,
death has kind and courtly manner.
Dickinson is a radical individualist. In her poems, she wants to break the old
style and repetitive thought which are used by the poets in the previous era. She
emphasizes that death is not always identical with sad and gloomy circumstances, but
death could have interchangeable relation with love. Therefore, she could make a
death poem with intimate romantic sense that in the same time expresses her real love
story.
The second stage is how the poet transforms signs to reach the complete
arrangement of semiotic system. This is commonly known as s
which occurs in hermeneutic level. In this case, there are two concepts
that can be analyzed, there are: sign production and . In fact, sign is
the basic . It is created by the
poet and hidden inside the text.
s of symbols in the level of
sign production. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 75
As if my life were shaven And fitted to a frame, And could not breathe without a key; And 't was like midnight, some,
When everything that ticked has stopped, And space stares, all around, Or grisly frosts, first autumn morns, Repeal the beating ground.
shows the occurrence of alliteration. This is the sign
fact, the repeated consonant sound in the
implies the sound of mourning that cannot be ignored by
the readers.
autu has two meanings: the satisfaction of harvest in
summer and the coming of death in winter (Ferber, 2007, p. 17). A in the ode
by John Keats can be analyzed as the comparison example of this
case.These are the first stanza and the third stanza of John .
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 76
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Among the river sallows, borne aloft Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
Keats describes mellow fruitfulness -
in the third stanz as the time when all
of things seem ready and ripe but end up with death as the title
of his ode which tends to represent death it mellow
fruitfulness in the first line of his ode supports the general understanding which
symbolizes death and mourning.
Moreover, it is a form of conventional symbol.
Then, a question occurs in relation to Dick of symbol: Why
Dickinson itself is
enough to represent death and mourning?
It style in making poem and constructing symbol.
She seems to make something unordinary and to escape from repetition that is used
by the poets in the previous era. Hence, she creates her own symbol with particular
meaning.According to the researcher, Dickinson sees that the strongest sense of
but it refers to the mourning
time of autumn. In this case, Dickinson has already created personal symbol in her perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 77
poem. However, her personal symbol is not totally fresh, new and even it is still
based on conventional symbol.
other poets from the previous era in the way they perceive readers ability in reading
poetry. Dickinson may create poetry with an extraordinary beautiful language and
even abstract meaning, but sometimes she sees poetry as something universal and
She sometimes created a poem by describing the real condition in people daily life.
In her poem entitled T , Dickinson
shows several evidences that verify her description which states that the event of
For
example, s dark as one of the evidence.
And then the milliner, and the man Of the appalling trade, To take the measure of the house.
Of tassels and of coaches soon;
The intuition of the news In just a country town.
is easyto understand.
can be seen as t which identical with
deat illustrates the scene of funeral when perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 78
the mourners dressed in black and marched. This is how the poet useshypogram
as the
process of sign production. This kind of hypogram will sup
knowledge in understanding the poem.
Furthermore, the color in a death poems not only occurs as a form of
cliché but also a symbol. In A Dictionary of Literary Symbols, the color
already stated as a symbol of death which rel is
the color of death and mourning which is adopted by Christians in the whole world
(Ferber, 2007, p. 28). Therefore, many people in several places believe that black
becomes one of the proper mourning attires.
This is how Dickinson shows poetry as something universal and conventional.
is a conventional symbol which is conventionally understood by most of
people. Therefore, it can be s as a symbol of
death in her poem. totally supports the core message of her poem
that the event of death is something common, continuous and noticeable in p
daily life. In this case, it can be seen that Dickinson does not expect the readers who
enjoy and understand her poemsshould have high intelligence and intellectual. She
sees that everybody canenjoy and understand her poems by analyzing their environs.
, the uses of
customs become interesting in the process of constructing symbols. In fact, Dickinson perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 79
creates a death poem which is strongly related to the customs.An extra observation is
needed to understand the customs of certain area. On the other side, it also forces the
readers to find the supporting text which relates to the explanation of customs. It is
because the readers could not do the interpretation process without the understanding
of social and cultural background of the poem itself.
As lately as today. I know it by the numb look Such houses have always.
The neighbours rustle in and out, The doctor drives away. A window opens like a pod, Abrupt, mechanically;
In this poem, Dickinson shows the uses of death customs in line
neighbo . In the past, a simple
funeral which is organized by families, friends and neighbors was popular in
also represent the way
people show their respect and care for t
is a form of death customs. It is because people usually open the
windows in the house of the deceased. They believe that this ritual will allow the
spirit to escape and to keep away from its house, families and friends. It can be seen
that this explanation relates to the meaning of window in symbolism. Since the shape
of window consists of apertures, they imply the meaning of distance (Cirlot, 2001, p.
373). perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 80
Dickinson constructs symbols in her death poems in the level of text
production.
We passed the school, where children strove At recess, in the ring; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun.
This is the example of the uses of repetition. As the simplest form of expansion,
fact, repetition is not the main focus in this part, but she combines repetition and
symbols. It can be seen that repetition leads and controls
enlightenment.
From this example, there are three kinds of conventional symbols which relate
to nature: the children, the gazing grain and the setting sun. Those symbols are not
used by the poet without certain reason. Although each symbol has their own
meaning, but they will deliver a new meaning when they emerge in order and
combine with repetition. In fact, the new meaning of those series of symbols helps the
The children symbolize start of life and the view of the future (Cirlot, 2001, p.
45). The grain is a symbol of the life itself and represents maturity (Ferber, 2007, p.
35). Since the setting sun consists of sunrise and sunset, it causes complex meaning.
The sunrise may symbolize the start of life and the sunset symbolizes the end of life perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 81
or death (Ferber, 2007, p. 209). In conclusion, those symbols represent the stage of
life which consists of birth, life (mature) and death.
A poet deals with many aspects in their writing process. The existence of
other poets can be seen as one of important aspects. Eliot (1982 when we
praise a poet, upon those aspects of his work in which he least resembles anyone
(p. 36). In this case, the emergence of influencesor other poets have an
important role in the process of constructing symbols.
For example, Dickinso I died for beauty but
. It reminds the reader to the
created by John Keats.
that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
As has been explained in the previous sub chapter, this phrase is the conclusion of
shows that John Keats and his works influence Dickinson. It can be seen that John
t also
is considered as the hypogram. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 82
I , Dickinson creates a conversation
between two speakers who talk about the reason of their deaths, they are
.
He questioned softly why I failed?
the two are one;
The ide beauty and truth become the speak
. It can be seen that beauty and truth become the representation of
art. The conversation of this poem is the model which describes the eternity of
art.Dickinson which
.
the same.
Dickinson agrees with Keats in seeing art as something great an eternal. Furthermore,
this case can be considered as a confirmation of the principle of intertextuality. In
fact, poetry cannot exist in the emptiness of culture. However, Dickinson appears as a
radical individualist who rejects conventional and repetitive style from the previous
era, but this case shows the role of influence in her poems.
Dickinson is famous with her extra interest in the elements of nature. She
loves nature and finds indefinitely inspiration from animals, plants and the series of
se fly a daisy are objects which are regularly used in her perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 83
death poems.In How many , those objects occur in the
same stanza.
Buzz the dull flies on the chamber window; Brave shines the sun through the freckled pane; Fearless the cobweb swings from the ceiling Indolent Housewife, in Daisies lain!
Moreover, those objects are used by Dickinson to create the circumstance of death in
.
IF I should die, And you should live, And time should gurgle on, And morn should beam, And noon should burn, As it has usual done; If birds should build as early, And bees as bustling go,-- One might depart at option From enterprise below!
When we with daisies lie, That commerce will continue, And trades as briskly fly. It makes the parting tranquil And keeps the soul serene, That gentlemen so sprightly Conduct the pleasing scene!
fly daisy can be seen as conventional symbols. Fly
symbolizes something unpleasant, disease-ridden and evil (Ferber, 2007, p. 78).
However daisy as the name of flower symbolizes the character of woman, both
good and bad (Ferber, 2007, p. 50). In fact, fly is one of arthropods which regularly
t also happened on the perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 84
which appears in severalpoems, such as The daisy follows soft the
If those I love .
This is how Dickinson creates her person and
daisy are regularly used in her poems, especially in her death poems. Therefore, the
readers could find particular meaning of those symbols. From her poems, the readers
can conclude that fly is the symbol of death which relates to the decomposition
process of organism. However, daisy emerges as graveyard flower.
poems, daisy doesnot only symbolize the character of a woman but also the death of
a woman.
In conclusion, the way Dickinson constructs symbols in her death poems is
divided into three major ways. First, she employs indirection in her poetry. It is in
(displacing, distorting, and creating meaning).It is considered as the basic way to
cat in the process of understanding the poem. Second,she
uses cliché, customs and the role of influence or any characteristics of the
conventional poems to interpretation. Third, she creates personal
symbols into two ways.First, she modifies conventional symbols into personal
symbols, for example in the form of alliteration. Second, she regularly uses the
symbols of nature (fly and daisy) and modifies the meaning. Therefore, the readers
will recognize those objects as her personal symbols not conventional symbols. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 85
However, anotherimportant thing is that Dickins way to construct
symbols in her death poems causes a contradiction. Since symbols are conventional,
stable and fixed in meaning, the construction of symbols creates clearer meaning for
the poem. In contrast, it is possible for each symbolto havelayers of meaning that is
broader and more ambiguous. In fact, it may
As the most important things, are
unconventional, it is against conventional death poems which are identical with
sadness and despair. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
A. CONCLUSION
semiotics theory. The analysis is based on two main ideas which become the research
poems and the way Emily Dickinson constructs symbols in her death poems.
There are two kinds of
symbols and conventional symbols. There are four personal symbols, they are death,
autumn morn, daisy and fly. There are twenty two conventional symbols, they are
child, grain, sun, horse, night, frost, noon, bell, fire, tomb, name, house, window,
coffin, black, mouth, hair, cobweb, time, morn, bird and bee.
The way Dickinson constructs symbols in her death poems is divided into
three major ways. First, she employs indirection in her poetry. It is in line with
distorting, and creating meaning). It is considered as the basic way to catch the
customs and the role of influence or any characteristics of the conventional poems.
Third, she creates personal symbols into two ways. First, she modifies conventional
86 perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 87
symbols into personal symbols, for example in the form of alliteration. Second, she
regularly uses the symbols of nature (fly and daisy) and modifies the meaning.
Therefore, the readers will recognize those objects as her personal symbols not
conventional symbols.
contradiction. Since symbols are conventional, stable and fixed in meaning, the
construction of symbols creates clearer meaning for the poem. In contrast, each
symbol has layers of meaning which is broader and ambiguous. In fact, it may causes
confusion in the rea As the most important things, it concludes that
Dickinson's death poems are unconventional, it is against conventional death poems
which are identical with sadness and despair.
B. RECOMMENDATION
This work is probably the first research which discusses symbols in death
poems in the scope of Sebelas Maret University Surakarta. In this time, the research
on poetry is important while the reality shows that many students are less interested
in literary work, especially poetry. Hence, it becomes important to do researches on
poetry whatever the subject, the poet, the theme and the style that are used. In fact, it
of poetry in the modern era. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id 88
The use of Riffaterre Semiotics of Poetry is important because this theory is
considered as the most applicable and understandable theory for poetry analysis. This
theory also becomes the representative tool to uncover symbolic signs in poems.
Moreover, this theory includes reader oriented theory which becomes a part of
reception theory. It relates to the occurrence of modern literary products which are
However, the researcher suggests that the next researcher will use another
approach and theory. It is because some of researches on poetry have already used
Riffaterre Semiotics of Poetry. The use of other theories and approaches is essential to
enrich the type of research in English Department, especially the research on poetry.