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Poems of Emily Dickinson: Renunciation / Is A Piercing Virtue

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From: Monarch Notes
Date: 19630101
Author:Dickinson, Emily

Dickinson, Emily
Monarch Notes
01-01-1963
Renunciation / Is A Piercing Virtue

This poem amounts to a definition of "renunciation," or going-without, a
highly regarded Puritan virtue. Renunciation is defined both literally and in
metaphor. What chiefly concerns us here, with this prime example of excellence
in Emily Dickinson's poetry, is what has happened to turn a theory or a
reflection into poetry. The key, of course, is in the imagination of the poet,
for in all ages imagination of the poet has brought about the transformation
of personal revelation into poetry. As one well-known critic, R. ...

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