I reason, Earth is short-
Interesting poem that I think really compliments, to me, some of the transdentalist readings in way that she focuses on reason and the individual as a subject in the poem. Dickinson ends each stanza with "but what of that". I consider this reptition to be integral to the poem because it really highlights the point she is trying to make, well the point I interpreted. She talks about reasoning over things on earth, and in the afterlife, and asks "but what of that". To me, it seemes like she was trying to say that we can make assumptions about the unknown, and about the mysteries surrounding death on this earth, but it is still just reasoning we will all die someday, it is inevitable. Maybe she was pointing out the futitlity of trying to reason over answers to lifes many mysteries.

Much Madness is divinest Sense-

Here I see a pattern of opposition and reptition. Essentailly the poem is stating that diverging from the normal path or being mad or brilliant and unlike others can make no sense to others; but the ones who are mad see the world with the "divinist sense". In the first stanza it reads Much Madness is divinest Sense --
To a discerning Eye --
Much Sense -- the starkest Madness --
'Tis the Majority
The repetition of the words "madness" and "sense" highlights the emphasis of the two words, there connotations and how they are wrongly construed or interchanged by various people. To those with "madness", their ways and ideas make sense, those who claim to be the sensible and "normal" to society are the ones that are truly mad. I think this poem is the most personal of all Dickinsons. It really applies to her in the sense that she was always question the state of being and the nature of people and of existence.

The Consciousness that is aware-
Echoing the sentiments of toheres, this was porbably one of the more puzzling poems. It is definetely a poem that explres identity and existence in relation to the world, and to death. Obviously it alludes to finding identity and self discovery "Itself unto itself and none
Shall make discovery.
Adventure most unto itself
The Soul condemned to be—
Attended by a single Hound
Its own identity.".
The poem seemed to flow and rhyme like the standard poetry we find, which I found to be different from Dickison's style. The exact nature of the last two stanzas, for me, sums up the purpose of the poem, which I thought was to find one's identity and that it was important to do so. But once again, Dickinson seems to find the practice futile since we already exist and we are already conscious of our neighbors and nature and the same conciousness will be present at our deaths.

One need not be a chamber-
The poem that I understood the most was this one. I believe I got Dickinson's message. Essentially she is saying that one's own self is it's greatest danger, it's greatest enemy. One should not be scared in a creepy chamber or alleway, or of the bad world outside their door when sometimes their worst danger is themselves. The emphasis of the "one" comes from Dickinson's repeated words of "one", "oneselves", and "ourselves" which are liberally littered across the poem. there is also an opppositon between the mind/person and the outside world/ terrors, in each stanza there seemed to be a comparison such as "Far safer through an Abbey gallop,the stones achase,Than, moonless, one's own self encounter
In lonesome place." She contantly refers to dangers and terrors in the world and then compares them straight away to the terrors that can incurr from oneself, it really developed the point/theme of the poem.

The Brain is wider than the Sky-
In this poem Dickinson seems to marvel at the capacity and the wonder of the brain. How it can comprehend, absorb, and encompass and process all of the universe.
The effectiveness of this poem, and the reason it is somewhat easy to interpret, is because of the layout and flow of the poem. It flows smoothly and follows a consistent pattern "The brain is wider than the sky....The brain is deeper than the sea,..... The brain is just the weight of God. She starts off every stanza with a declaration of the brain, a comparison to it, usually with some element of the universe (sky, ocean, God) and then the similarties of the two. In the last stanza she differs a little from the pattern when she talks about God in relation to the brain, and somewhat asserts in the last line that the two are of equal value or wonder.

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant-

This seems to be almost a cautionary poem about how to lie. How to lie in the way that it does not hurt others, or how to lie in a way that is strategic. I saw a pattern, or repition in the poem between words like "light", "dazzle", "lghting" all being used in relation to lieing which makes lieing into some sort of wonderous spectacle that can surpise and shock people. She then uses words like "slant", "eased" and "gradually" to illustrat the way in which truth or slanted lies should manifest themselves. Because outright truth can sometimes be like lighting that can "dazzle", it is best to do it gradually so that one can comprehend the truth and process it rationally without the inital shock and awe.

-Chloe