There’s a certain Slant of light, Emily Dickinson There's a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons – That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes – Heavenly Hurt, it gives us – We can find no scar, But internal difference – Where the Meanings, are – None may teach it – Any – 'Tis the seal Despair – An imperial affliction Sent us of the Air – When it comes, the Landscape listens – Shadows – hold their breath – When it goes, 'tis like the Distance On the look of Death –
VOCABULARY
The slant of light -light falling at a particularangle Oppress-todominateorcontrolsomethingwiththeaimofcreatinghardshipor difficulty Heft -the weight of something Internal- inside, in this case inside the body Despair -a feeling of sadness and stress that comesfrom a loss of hope 1 / 2
STORY/SUMMARY
Stanza1:There’sacertainangleoflightthatfallsonWinterafternoons,thatfeels
oppressive, like the heavy weight of Cathedral music.
Stanza2:Ithurtsinaspiritual,heavenlyway-wefindnoscarsfromitoutsideour
body, but it makes an internal difference, where the meanings are within us
Stanza3:Noonecanteachittous-anyofit-itisthesealofDespairuponoursoul,
an imperial illness that is airborne and sent to us by the air.
Stanza4:Whenthislightcomes,thelandscapelistensandfallssilent,shadowshold
theirbreath,whenitgoesitislikethedistancecreatedbetweenalivingbeingandthe look of Death.
SPEAKER/VOICE
ThespeakernoticesthatlightlooksaparticularwayonWinterafternoonsasitfalls acrosstheworld-ontothelandscape.Thereissomethingspiritualaboutthislight asifitisheavenly,butalsooppressive-itissimilartotheheavymusicheardin Cathedrals,thatseemtoweighuponthesoulandinfuseitwithfeelingsofdreador despair.Thepresenceofthelightcreatessilence,andwhenitleavesitleavesan impression of Death upon those who witnessed it.
LANGUAGE DEVICES
Symbolism-the‘SlantofLight’likelyrepresentsthepresenceoftheDivinewithinthe materialworldaroundus,inreligioustextsandliteraturelightisoftenusedinthisway, tosymbolicallyrefertoahigherpower-oftentheChristianGod.Yetinthepoem,this
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