Ultimately, I think the purpose of the dashes is to give specific parts of the poem more significance and by doing so Dickinson wants to make the audience more attentive and thoughtful about what they are reading. Plus, it seems that the dashes are a stylistic choice as its kind of formats her poem in a pattern and makes it seem like a sequence of fragments rather than sentences. In this case Dickinson uses dashes to replace the use of parentheses because while parentheses are a subtle way to add key notes, dashes are a more intrusive, blunt method to make a side statement. When she writes, “When it comes, the Landscape listens – / Shadows – hold their breath – / When it goes, ‘tis like the Distance / On the look of Death –” the dashes still end the lines but they also put emphasis on the statement “hold their breath” because being sandwiched between two dashes on the same line draws the reader’s attention. In addition, throughout the poem Dickinson uses dashes to frame specific terms. If I had to endure a lifetime for your affection, I would. If you’re the sun, I am the sunflower, swaying under your command, forever yearning for your warmth, for you are my raison d’être. When she uses the dashes as commas like the stanza from above it shifts the focus on the words that follow the dash, so the phrase “that oppresses” is meant to resonate with the reader. Your words are the nightingale’s song, a hypnotizing harmony that draws me into the depths of your affection. The dashes create an emphasis on parts of the sentence and take on the role of either commas or parentheses. For example when she writes, “There’s a certain Slant of light, / Winter Afternoons – / That oppresses, like the Heft / Of Cathedral Tunes –” the dash separates the first and second line from the third and fourth line allowing for each to hold individual significance but not disconnecting the train of thought. The lines in the poem are split into fragments by these dashes and beauty of a dash is that is allows the continuation of a sentence without a blunt end such as a semicolon or period, instead the reader is visually able to move from one fragment to the other following the line. I think the dashes allow Dickinson to make words and phrases seem more important and thought provoking as well as create a certain style to her writing. However, really understanding why Dickinson uses dashes is difficult because every part of the poem uses them a bit differently. But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between the years. He noted first came the date of the birth and spoke the following date with tears. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning to the end. There isn't a person on earth who wouldn't benefit from reading this book.Dickinson’s use of dashes is interesting because it’s one of the many things that makes her poetry different from other poetry. I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. For high school students, for college students, for people that are entrenched in their lives, for people who are retired, for people who have illnesses, for people that have just been blessed with a new child, for people that are just starting out their journey in life, and for people who are finishing their journey. I would highly recommend this book for literally anyone old enough to read. So much of our time is spent worrying about the future or the past that we forget that we are not living for some ultimate end goal, but rather what matters is how we live the journey of life, clear down to each moment we are in. This book reminded me so much about the movie "Peaceful Warrior". In the period of about 10 minutes it has the power to make you stop and re-evaluate your entire life, what you hold important, what your priorities are, what you have done and haven't done, what you would like to do, and what the dash is all about.
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