AN ANALYSIS WRITTEN BY C HUES OCTOBER 16, 2021
339 (241)
I like a look of Agony,
Because I know it’s true -
Men do not sham Convulsion,
Nor simulate, a Throe -
The eyes glaze once - and that is Death -
Impossible to feign
The Beads opon the Forehead
By homely Anguish strung.
The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th Ed. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, Jon Stallworthy. W. W. Norton Company, Inc. 2005. Emily Dickinson. 339 (241). P 723.
Emily Dickinson’s poem “339 (241)” is a seemingly simplistic poem that has deeper themes of suffering and struggle in death. Dickinson uses the similar syntax and alliteration[1] in both stanzas, which allows the poem to read smoothly and contrasts the harsher themes that are prevalent throughout. The poem also has religious connotations and connects to the pain that Christ suffered as he died on the cross.
The speaker says several words throughout the poem that connect to the overall theme of violence and struggle in death. For example, the word “Agony” means “1. extreme and generally prolonged pain; intense physical or mental suffering. 2. a display or outburst of intense mental or emotional excitement 3. the struggle preceding natural death: mortal agony. 4. a violent struggle.”[2] Similarly, the speaker uses the word “Anguish”,[3] which means “excruciating or acute distress, suffering, or pain”.[4] A “Convulsion” is a “contortion of the body caused by violent, involuntary muscular contractions of the extremities, trunk, and head” or a “violent agitation or disturbance; commotion.”[5] The speaker’s use of the word “Convulsion” also directly relates to the line “The Beads upon the Forehead”,[6] since a convulsion can engender contractions and spasms of the head, which can cause sweating and perspiration (“Beads”).[7] “Throe” means, “1. a violent spasm or pang; paroxysm. 2. a sharp attack of emotion. 3. throes, any violent convulsion or struggle: the throes of battle. the agony of death. the pains of childbirth.”[8] Notice that most of the words that are capitalized in the poem, “Agony”, “Convulsion”, “Throe”, and “Anguish” all emphasize a violent, virtually incessant pain. “Agony”, “Throe”, and “Anguish” all stress both extensive mental/emotional and physical strife and the perpetual torture that exacerbates it. Each of these words also reveal the theme that is greater than “Death” itself, which is “the look” that Death brings.[9] The speaker clarifies and specifies, “I like a look of Agony.”[10] The look itself, such as what the convulsions cause the body to do, are not trauma that can be forced or faked. The speaker notes that the “look of Agony” is “true” and “Impossible to feign”.[11] It is not “Death”[12] itself that brings the truest form of expression; rather it is the suffering that one undergoes as they experience Death.
In the poem, “339 (241)”, Dickinson uses the same number of syllables per line in stanza 1 as she does in stanza 2. In stanza 1, line 1, there are 8 syllables. Stanza 1, line 2 has 6 syllables. Stanza 1, line 3 has 7 syllables. Stanza 1, line 4 has 6 syllables. Stanza 2, line 1 has 8 syllables. Stanza 2, line 2 is composed of 6 syllables. Stanza 2, line 3 has 7 syllables. Stanza 2, line 4 contains 6 syllables.[13] The congruent syllable usage per lines in both stanzas contributes to the overall rhythmic flow of the poem. Dickinson uses alliteration repeatedly throughout the poem. In the first line of the first stanza, she stresses the sounds of “l” and “a”; “I like a look of Agony.”[14] She repeats this in line 2 of the first stanza with repetitive vowel sounds (the letter “i”), “Because I know it’s true”.[15] Stanza 2, line 1 and stanza 2, line 2 both have alliterative “t” sounds.[16] All these elements give the poem a structure and order that contrasts with the actual theme of the poem, which focuses on disorder, pain, and discord. The constant alliteration and matching syllable patterns also give the poem a simplistic, nursery rhyme or child-like reading; the sounding of the poem when read aloud is antithetical to the poem’s darker nature and subject matter of “Death”[17] and suffering.
The poem seems to also have a more elusive meaning that ties to the struggle and death of Christ on the cross. Dickinson wrote another poem, “320 (258)”, in the same year that she wrote “339(241)”,[18] and the former poem explored many of the same themes of the latter. “320 (258)” also mentions the “Look of Death”, along with “Heavenly Hurt” and “Cathedral Tunes”.[19] Another line reads, “We can find no scar”;[20] which relates to the scar that Jesus endured from being pierced in his side by a Roman soldier. John Chapter 19, Verse 34 details Jesus’ crucifixion and reads, “[O]ne of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”[21] Psalms 22, Verse 1 recalls Christ’s cries of “Anguish”[22] on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?”[23] In Matthew 27, Verses 46-50, as Christ is crucified, he cries out to God twice in a “loud voice”[24] of agony before he dies. In “339 (241)”, the word “Beads” can also convey religious connotations, meaning “a rosary” or “devotions; prayers.”[25]
Emily Dickinson’s poem “339 (241)” is a poem that uses short stanzas that contain simple lines, and the same syllable usage in both stanzas to create an easy-sounding poem which opposes the poem’s themes of the torment and torture that is dealt to people when dying. Death is usually not a quick process, and it brings intense emotional, mental, and physical pain that usually cannot be assuaged. The poem shares the common theme of suffering and death with “320 (258)”, and both poems have religious imagery that relates to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
[1] Dictionary.com. alliteration. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/alliteration?s=t. Accessed October 16, 2021.
[2] Dictionary.com. agony. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/agony#. Accessed October 16, 2021.
[3] The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th Ed. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, Jon Stallworthy. W. W. Norton Company, Inc. 2005. Emily Dickinson. 339 (241). P 723.
[4] Dictionary.com. anguish. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/anguish. Accessed October 16, 2021.
[5] Dictionary.com. convulsion. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/convulsion#. Accessed October 16, 2021.
[6] The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th Ed. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, Jon Stallworthy. W. W. Norton Company, Inc. 2005. Emily Dickinson. 339 (241). P 723.
[7] Dictionary.com. bead. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/bead. Accessed October 16, 2021.
[8]Dictionary.com. throe. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/throe. Accessed October 16, 2021.
[9] The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th Ed. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, Jon Stallworthy. W. W. Norton Company, Inc. 2005. Emily Dickinson. 339 (241). P 723.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Ibid.
[21] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2019&version=NIV. Biblegateway.com. John Chapter 19, Verse 34. NIV. Accessed October 16, 2021.
[22] The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th Ed. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, Jon Stallworthy. W. W. Norton Company, Inc. 2005. Emily Dickinson. 339 (241). P 723.
[23] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2022&version=NIV. Biblegateway.com. Psalms Chapter 22, Verse 1. Accessed October 16, 2021.
[24] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2027&version=NIV. Biblegateway.com. Matthew Chapter 27, Verses 46-50. Accessed October 16, 2021.
[25] Dictionary.com. bead. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/bead. Accessed October 16, 2021.