"He fumbles at your Soul": Emily Dickinson between the piano and the cosmos. (17th December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thomières, Daniel
• Is Part Of: Orbis litterarum. Volume 77:Number 4(2022)
• Page Start: 268
• Page End: 283
• Publication Date: 2021-12-17
• Subjects: linguistic experiment -- modes of existence -- possibilities of life -- semantics -- unfolding by layers; Literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; 809
• DOI: 10.1111/oli.12336
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0105-7510

Abstract

Abstract: This essay is an attempt at unfolding the semantic implications of a sonnet by Emily Dickinson, through layer after layer of meaning, "He fumbles at your Soul." The poem, which relates a traumatic experience, can be analyzed as an experiment in which the poet explores language, going as far as is possible in order to fathom its potential. The notion of identity is interrogated as a series of more or less conventional modes of being, which, at its deepest level, questions the meaning of life. The subject is shown as constituted by concrete metamorphoses poised between nature and culture, as well as between death and life. In conclusion, the poem puts forward an original conception of death: death is a plurality which reveals new possibilities of life.