Poem 632 The Brain-

Poem by Emily Dickinson

Justin MacKenzie
Christina Colafrancesco
Tiffany Gilbert

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson:

December 10th, 1830 May 15th, 1886
Enjoyed baking and gardening in her
childhood.
Father, Edward, was a budding
politician; her mother, Emily, was a
housewife. She however, suffered a
paralyzing stroke.
Many deaths of close relatives
occurred during her childhood, also
her home was across from a cemetery.
She attended Amherst Academy and
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary.
As she grew older she became
sheltered. Close to her family and
some others, but no one else.
Became ill shortly after many deaths
of close friends and family, died
because of it at only 55.

Quotes
I a
My friends are my
I
f
s
I
i
ca
n
st
d
o
p
love rgue
one
o
e
G
w
y
t
estate
a
e
th
y
ys
heart from
hat is life ee th
The here, and m as
i
w
h im . An
breaking, I shal
at
Fin
l not Truth is so rare,
every think of H e
d
m
i
t
li
e
or t
infi
s
us
live in vain
it is delightful to
alit fe
nite to fa
alway hat a recl
y
w
to v il, bu
tell it.

s o me
.
t
t
e
s
ntu
Lov
highe
re
e
s
The
sun
just
p
i
a
s
e
l
Imm
r
e
e
orta
Saying
Fo
dd
touched the
lity.
rev
unde
o
w

er i
nothing...sometimes
A
morning;
s
t
a
h
of n comp
t
says
the
most
The
morning,
e
g
ose
n
o ws
d
stra not

I
am
one
of
the
happy
thing,
o
H
es
s
o
e
d
o
d
Do
re
lingering bad ones.
Supposed that
gs a
natu , and yet
k
c
g
t
o
n
he
had
come
to
i

han re bet
p
e
p
kn
e
d
t
u
s
e
ter
p eo
ntr
kes ar
dwell,

p
s
not i
s
l
e
e
c
c
Mista
.
to su
Dwell in possibility
And life would
stones
be all spring.

"If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can
warm me I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of
my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.

History of her Poems

- Rarely ever titled her poems.
- Out of nearly 2,000 poems,
she titled less than a
dozen.
- Only after her death, were
Dickinsons poems titled
and/or numbered.
- Titles are generally formed
from the first line.
- Her poetry was not public,
most of it stayed within her
circle.

Writing Style
Dickinson wrote about what she knew and what intrigued her:
Nature, religion, music, commerce, reality, and death.
- No title, one sentence poems.
- The poems express thoughts and feelings.
- The speaker is unknown, although assumed to be the
author.
- Used abstract ideas with concrete images.
- Used various Hymn rhyme schemes: Common, long, short,
ballard, half, and many others.
- Syntax. Irregular punctuation such as dashes, rather than
periods or commas; thus allowing for breaks in the fluidity
and stressed nouns.
- Capitalized of interior words for emphasis.
- The use of hyperboles, meaning extreme exaggeration.

Individual Analyses
Tiffany Gilbert:

- The poem shows the brain mightier

than God himself. We, the people, create
God, or a higher power, for mental
stability and hope.
Justin MacKenzie:

- No matter the size of the universe

around us, our small organ, the brain, can
contain it all. God gave us this power.

Stanza 1
The Brain--is wider than the
Sky-For--put them side by side-The one the other will
contain
With ease--and You--beside--

Although the brain is small in size, its capable of

containing things the sky can not.
The brain not only sees, but its also able to feel and
more importantly understand:
emotions, sounds, and hypothetical futures.

Stanza 2
The Brain is deeper than
the sea-For--hold them--Blue to
Blue-The one the other will
Unlike the sea, theabsorb-human brain sees what
lies deepAs
to Sponges--Buckets--do-the surface and thinks in depth.
The brain, like a sponge, can absorb and
release information when necessary.
Stanza 1 & 2 show Parallelism.

Stanza 3

The Brain is just the weight

of God-For--Heft them--Pound for
Pound-And they will differ--if they
The brain and God are compared.
do-Man is Gods image; Humanism.
As Syllable
from power
Sound
We, the people,
create a higher
for hope and

stability.
Man was created in Gods image; Biblical.
God created the world and his people, therefore, the
brain is minimalistic compared to Jesus himself.

Others Thoughts
The brain has the ability to keep us alive whether we are awake or asleep. It allows us to run,
jump, think, write, read, live and enjoy the world we live in.It is at the core at all of our human
experiences. With the brain, we have the power to examine the sky and the ocean, to explore
their uncharted depths or heights and to inquire about unknown or confusing elements of our
world. But how did human beings acquire such an amazing element: such an organ so powerful it
controls our every thought and dictates our every mood. To Dickinson, this is where the brain
makes a connection with God, the all powerful being. All evolutional theories aside, the brain is a
entity with a similarity to God. Both have a power over the human race we will never be able to
fully understand.
(VW2000's Weblog 2008)

Signifying spatial anxiety is Dickinson's main preoccupation in this poem, superficial

spatiality perhaps containing, absorbing, and implicitly writing/voicing a wider, deeper, and
equally weighing philosophical argument about man and the universe. Focusing on width,
depth, weight, color, and sound, in addition to shape/calligraphy (the en rule, capitalization,
and 'Syllable') Dickinson's poem itself achieves a size (a space) that goes beyond the limits
of its lines and a significance that outreaches the sounds of its syllables. This study
examines the notion of hyperreal space in Dickinson's poem,...

(Al-Joulan, Nayef Ali; Baker, Abu. 2009)

Ahead of the her time?

In The Brain, Dickinson to
some degree inserted some
Realism.
This was an artistic movement
that followed Romanticism
Realism was when authors
wanted things to be realistic
and not always idealized.
In her time it had yet to be
widely used.
Just her talking of a brain,
the ocean being blue, sponges,
and a bucket shows Realism.

Romantic Poets wrote about

the importance of nature: nature
meaning beauty and truth.
Realistic Poets, the time of
the Puritans, wrote about
negative/harsh realities and
poverty in life.
Dickinson wrote in both
styles mocking the Puritan way of
life. She would use metaphors
including nature. Why? Because
Puritans believed nature to be
the realm of the devil.
- To Emily, being a Puritan
was walking the earth dead.

Themes
There are many themes for Emily Dickinsons
poems. She was such a unique poet that
interpretations and themes are by the hundreds.
For this poem themes can include:
-Challenging the existence of God.
Is God real or in our own minds?
-Struggle of ones self.
Expressing ones emotions
Other poems involve:
-Death, nature, religion, love, dread and
pain.

Questions
1. How is God interpreted in this poem? Does
Dickinson think God has more power or less
over us?
2. Discuss the diction of the poem. Point out words
that are expressed differently and explain why?
3. Would you consider Emily Dickinson a
Christian during the 19th century after reading
this poem? Why or why not?
4. Can Emily Dickinsons Poems be read to the
theme song from Gilligans Island? :)

References
"A Timeline of Emily Dickinson's Life." A Timeline of Emily Dickinson's Life. Trustees of Amherst
College, 2009. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.
Christopher. "A Poem a Day." : [The Brain -is Wider than the Sky-]. N.p., 30 June 2011. Web. 06 Oct.
2013.
"Emily Dickinson: An Overview." Emily Dickinson: An Overview. N.p., 25 Feb. 2009. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
"Emily Dickinson Poetry: #632 | VW2000's Weblog." VW2000's Weblog | Just another WordPress.com
weblog. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. <http://vw2000.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/emily-dickinsonpoetry-632/>.
"Emily Dickinson: The Later Years (1865-1886) | Emily Dickinson Museum." Emily Dickinson Museum.
N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/ed/node/65>.
"Emily Norcross Dickinson (1804-1882), mother | Emily Dickinson Museum." Emily Dickinson
Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/ed/node/81>.
"Engl1022WebsiteProject - THE BRAIN IS WIDER THAN THE SKY."Engl1022WebsiteProject - THE BRAIN
IS WIDER THAN
THE SKY. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
"File:Black-white photograph of Emily Dickinson (Restored).jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia."
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blackwhite_photograph_of_Emily_Dickinson_(Restored).jpg>.

"Major Characteristics of Dickinson's Poetry | Emily Dickinson Museum." Major Characteristics of

Dickinson's Poetry | Emily
Dickinson Museum. Trustees of Amherst College, 2009. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
Oddiraju, Vinai. "The Brain Is Wider than the Sky." Prezi.com. N.p., 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 06 Oct.
2013.
"Parallelism, Deviation and 'The Brain - Is Wider than the Sky -'" Ling 131, Topic 3 (session B).
N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
"Romanticism, Realism and Emily Dickinson." 123HelpMe.com. 20 Oct 2013