17 pages • 34 minutes read
Whose cheek is this?
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“The Bustle in a House” by Emily Dickinson (1890)
“The Bustle in a House” was originally titled “Aftermath.” Though it was written around 1866, it was only first published in 1890 after Dickinson passed away. While “Whose cheek is this?” details the moments up until the fading of life and what might follow immediately after, “The Bustle in a House” takes a longer view, spanning out to assess the emotional turmoil and “work” that one must do in the morning hours after losing a loved one. The speaker mournfully describes the act of packing away one’s love because they can no longer physically show it to their departed friend or family member.
“This World is not Conclusion” by Emily Dickinson (1896)
Dickinson most likely wrote “This World is not Conclusion” around 1862, though it would later appear in publication in 1896. The first 12 lines, according to Dickinson scholar Thomas Johnson, were printed in Outlook in January of 1896 under the title “Immortality,” and then the poem appeared again in Poems the same year. This poem is a more optimistic outlook on death, acknowledging that there is something more beyond the end of life. What exactly lies beyond death, however, the speaker admits is unknown and unknowable.
“Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson (1890)
“Because I could not stop for Death” appeared in Dickinson’s first posthumous publication in 1890. The work elaborates on the inevitability of death, how it will come for everyone at some point during life. The speaker reminisces on their life while driving with death in a metaphorical carriage, seeing the passage of time represented in children playing and the sun setting. While the poem is about dying, Dickinson does not portray death as a threatening creature but rather as a resolute companion.
“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson (1891)
Though originally written in 1861, this poem only appeared 30 years later in publication in Dickinson’s second posthumous collection. In contrast to her other poems with a focus on death and dying, the motivational lines of this poem describe the endless resilience of hope.
Further Literary Resources
“Emily Dickinson and the question of ‘giving death’” by Antoine Cazé (2019)
Cazé analyzes how Dickinson writes about death, particularly in her poem “It was not Death, for I stood up.” Claiming that the lyric form in which Dickinson wrote impacted her view on this subject, Cazé states that by categorizing death “negatively, this poem sets the stage for a thought experiment, allowing the poet to explore the difficulties inherent in any act of thinking.” Dickinson’s thought experiment is further complicated, according to Cazé, by the Calvinist tradition surrounding her.
"Emily Dickinson and Flannery O’Connor: Lives Beyond Convention" by Susana Cavallo (2019)
Cavallo brings O’Connor and Dickinson together to highlight the characteristics shared between them. While both writers shut themselves away from the public eye towards the end of their lives, both also “evidence striking similarities in tenor, technique, outlook, and dedication to the craft of writing.” These similarities are distinct and identifiable “despite the century of time and the literary movements that separated them.” These commonalities are so significant because they highlight two women choosing their work over societal expectations.
"The Nerve Force of Emily Dickinson" by Cate L. Mahoney (2020)
Mahoney’s goal in her article is to analyze how Dickinson utilizes the word “nerve” throughout her collection of poems. She aims to “trace the term through Dickinson’s work to see how ‘nerve’ is associated with pain, endurance, and this odd positioning (physical and temporal) of the self to action.” In some of Dickinson’s poems, nerves are more abstract and intangible objects while in others the nerves can be synonymously associated with the soul. Overall, Mahoney attempts to decipher how the “nerve” relates to the individual self.
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By Emily Dickinson
