There is no frigate like a book

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry,
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll.
How frugal is the chariot
That bears the human soul!

Emily Dickinson’s poem, “There is no frigate like a book” uses denotation/ connotation and figurative language in powerful ways. If Dickinson had used more common words in her poem, readers would not be allowed the experience to truly explore the meaning behind her poem. Using denotation, one would translate the first line into there is no ship like a book. Using the connotation that Dickinson did, she is saying that there is no escape or refuge from life that works as well as a book does and that it can take us as far away as we allow ourselves to. Dickinson means to take us into the text and truly feel and experience what she is talking about, not just traveling to another country or city. In the third line, the figurative language being used is a simile, comparing a beautiful horse and a “free spirit” to the border of a page. It means that within a page, of a book, one is allowed to see beauty in the story and experience not what is happening in the world around them, but the storyline. “Of prancing poetry” can be read as happy poetry and the reader can jump around and interpret their own view. “This traverse may the poorest take without oppress of toll” explains that the reader travels across the page and they can be the poorest person and not have to pay a fee in order to feel the greatness of a fairytale. The last lines are telling us that no matter how cheap the book or “chariot” is, we can still have the royal treatment in our lives. As long as our soul possesses the goodness and love that only the joys and mysteries of a book hold, then Dickinson did her job. Using words such as frigate, lands, and coursers, Dickinson allowed the audience the possibilities to explore her world and most importantly their own, and to truly feel the emotions of her writing.

The Hound by Robert Francis

The Hound by Robert Francis

The first understanding one might get from this poem could be the very simple translation of what Robert Francis is saying. The poem says that like a dog, life can come at you in questionable and unexpected ways. A dog can come running to some unknown person and either attack them and rip them apart, or take the time to sniff things out and lick a person in acceptance. Francis writes that you cannot tell what one is going to do in advance; you just have to wait and allow things to happen naturally. If people always knew what was going to happen next in life, we would not have mysteries, and nothing would be able to surprise us, especially when we do not expect it. When reading this poem multiple times, you are allowed to analyze different aspects of your own life and see which fits best to this analogy of a poem. One woman could use this poem as a parallel of finding love and waiting for a man to break her heart, or in the positive light, for the right one to come along and marry her. This poem identifies with many different people in the way in which one can adapt it to whatever they want to compare in life. The main point of what Francis was writing is that like what a dog is going to do, life is unpredictable and we are just along for the ride and get to stand by and watch as it happens before us.

Life the hound
Equivocal
Comes at a bound
Either to rend me
Or to befriend me.

I cannot tell
The hound’s intent
Till he has sprung
At my bare hand
With teeth or tongue.
Meanwhile I stand
And wait the event.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

William Wordsworth uses great detail and tells the reader about daffodils, lakes, trees, and the rest of the surroundings in which he looks at. Wordsworth is the speaker in the poem and he is very content in his solitude. The visual and descriptive language along with the rhyming scheme allows the reader to flow along with the poem. He enjoys looking at the world from afar and is comfortable being alone on the couch. Using words such as fluttering, dancing, twinkle, and tossing really allow the reader to visualize him or herself in the setting of the poem. When one reads,
“Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.” (7-12)
The descriptive sounds that Wordsworth writes let him fully express his contentment and happiness in his writings.